Mobile Endoscopy vs Video Tower: A Prospective Comparison of Video Quality and Diagnostic Accuracy

Objective To determine if any significant difference exists between endoscopic videos captured with a mobile adaptor and videos captured with a traditional tower. Study Design Prospective controlled blinded comparison of mobile endoscopic videos captured through 2 methods. Methods Thirty randomly selected patients underwent video endoscopy with both mobile and video tower recording methods. Sixty videos were edited into a series of 10-second clips. Thirteen otolaryngology staff and residents rated the video quality and provided a diagnosis for each video. Results We found no significant difference in the video quality ratings between mobile and tower videos (mean difference, −0.07; P < .37). Similarly, we found no significant difference in the observers’ diagnostic accuracy (mean difference, 1.54%; P < .686). Conclusion With adequate power, our study was unable to demonstrate a difference between mobile adapter videos and tower videos. Our findings suggest that mobile adapter videos may reasonably be used in lieu of tower videos in clinical practice.