Live Surgery Broadcast Using Internet2

A multi-university partnership has successfully broadcast an endoscopic surgery at the University of Puerto Rico to multiple locations in the United States using the advanced networking consortium Internet2.

Researchers from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT, Henrietta, NY, USA) in collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine (San Juan, Puerto Rico) recently tested the technology, which allows for the transmission of high quality, real-time video to multiple locations using a secure, high-speed network. The experiment also included a multipoint videoconference that was connected to the video stream, allowing for live interaction between participants. The researchers utilized a 30-megabit-per-second broadcast quality video stream, which produces high quality images, and configured it to be transmitted via multicast using the Microsoft Research (Redmond, WA, USA) ConferenceXP system. The researchers also utilized a videoconferencing system to connect all parties. The team will next conduct additional tests with different surgical procedures and an expanded number of remote locations. The researchers' goal is to transfer the technology for use in medical education and actual diagnostic applications.

"The University of Puerto Rico has been performing this type of transmission between two sites for more than a year, but we are now able to utilize a combination of technologies that allows us to transmit to multiple sites simultaneously,” said José Conde, director of the center for information architecture in research at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus. "Being isolated geographically from major research centers, we need to use information technology to foster research collaborations with scientists around the world.”

"Previous efforts in telemedicine have been hampered by the quality of the video stream produced and the potential for network interruptions,” said Gurcharan Khanna, director of research computing at RIT. "This test demonstrates that by using the speed and advanced protocols support provided by the Internet2 network, we have the potential to develop real time, remote consultation and diagnosis during surgery, taking telemedicine to the next level.”

Internet2 or UCAID (University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development) is a non-profit consortium, which develops and deploys advanced network applications and technologies, for education and high-speed data transfer purposes. It is led by over 200 universities and partners with many affiliate members and corporate members drawn from companies in the publishing, networking, and other technology industries.

Related Links:
Rochester Institute of Technology
Puerto Rico School of Medicine
Microsoft Research