From: Andrew Yee Newsgroups: sci.space.news Subject: Distant doctors make their rounds via satellite (Forwarded) Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2003 10:31:09 -0400 Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Pasadena CA Approved: sci-space-news@zagami.jpl.nasa.gov Message-ID: <3EDA0E2D.9080300@nova.astro.utoronto.ca> ESA News http://www.esa.int 22 May 2003 Distant doctors make their rounds via satellite ESA telemedicine technology enables specialist physicians to perform detailed patient consultations from hundreds of kilometres away. High-resolution video images and data signals sent via satellite links have already made 'teleconsulting' a routine procedure in one part of Europe. The Agency's involvement with satellite telemedicine began back in 1996, when ESA provided a satellite communication system to link Italian hospitals with a field hospital in Sarajevo in Bosnia, enabling teleconsultations for both civilian and military patients -- either live videoconferencing or else 'offline' transmission of multimedia patient data for later diagnosis. "Accessing the experience of medical specialists located hundreds of miles apart helped to reduce the feeling of professional isolation perceived by medical doctors in the field hospital, in particular when facing problems that were new to them" said Francesco Feliciani of ESA Telecom. "More than six years later an expanded Euromednet network is still operated on a weekly basis, now mainly assisting teleconsultations in Tirana in Albania and Pec in Kosovo, and the Celio Military Hospital in Italy, and will soon return to Sarajevo as well as Bucharest in Romania." Since 1996 the Agency has backed more than 20 telemedicine projects and on 23 and 24 May ESA hosts a symposium in Frascati, Italy called 'Telemedicine via Satellite in the Information Society'. Workshops will focus on subjects including telemedicine serving hospitals in remote areas and other teleconsulting applications. One past ESA project, Remote Communities Services Telecentre (RCST), brought teleconsulting to remote parts of Canada. The experience has led to the implementation of the permanent SmartLabrador Project, a hybrid satellite-terrestrial network providing broadband network services to 26 communities in rural Labrador. Today a variety of teleconsulting services are provided through the network, including autism clinics and telepsychiatry. Isolated mobile sites like aircraft and ferries can also benefit from teleconsulting. As larger planes and boats come to carry more passengers, so the chance of a serious medical emergency occurring on any single trip increases. A project called Marine Interactive Satellite Technologies (MIST) fitted a 'wireless sickbay' to a Canadian superferry. During 2002 some 23 teleconsultations were carried out between the ferry and Port aux Basques hospital, Newfoundland, including four live emergency consultations. Another ESA telemedicine project called TelAny (Telemedicine Anywhere) was demonstrated last year, linking Norwegian ferries to an onshore hospital. Another element of TelAny involved allowing Italian cardiologists to remotely monitor the health of five heart patients fitted with pacemakers. Data from implanted sensors was recorded with a reader then downloaded to a PC with a satellite modem, becoming available to the doctor within 30 seconds. Each patient was free to carry on their normal life, only having to visit the hospital if their doctor requested it. With the proportion of elderly people in Europe due to increase, such remote monitoring of chronic patients might well become a significant element of health care provision across greying suburbs of Europe. Another workshop at the ESA Symposium is centring on telemedicine and the elderly. "Despite the great potential, telemedicine in general and via satellite in particular is still at a very early phase," said Feliciani. "Due to many aspects involved and the many issues to be sorted out, a multi-disciplinary approach where several actors in the field are able to work together is a necessary condition to move forward. This month's symposium is an attempt to facilitate this process." Telemedicine * Telemedicine http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Telemedicine_Alliance/index.html Related articles * Telemedicine via satellite for the information society http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMBSU1A6BD_Improving_0.html * Telemedicine system tailored for European rescue workers http://www.esa.int/esaSA/SEM90ZR1VED_telecom_0.html * Using satellites for health care innovations http://www.esa.int/esaSA/SEM6JO1A6BD_telecom_0.html * Medics demonstrate treating disaster victims via satellite http://www.esa.int/esaCP/ESAPX27708D_index_0.html * Golf, health and ESA http://www.esa.int/esaSA/ESACYOZUMOC_telecom_0.html * ESA helps establish emergency medical service in Canada's remote communities http://www.esa.int/esaSA/GGGGJLQZ0GC_index_0.html * Medical links http://www.esa.int/esaCP/GGGSBLH3KCC_Improving_0.html Related links * ESA Telecom homepage http://telecom.esa.int * ESA Telecom -- Telemedicine http://telecom.esa.int/applications/telemedicine * DELTASS http://telecom.esa.int/telecom/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=750 * Euromednet http://telecom.esa.int/telecom/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=824 * Marine Interactive Satellite Technologies (MIST) http://telecom.esa.int/telecom/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=836 * Remote Communities Services Telecentre (RCST) http://telecom.esa.int/telecom/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=620 * TelAny http://telecom.esa.int/telecom/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=811 Video * DELTASS http://asimov.esrin.esa.it:8766/queryIG.html?col=mmg &ht=0 &qp= &qs= &qc= &pw=100%25 &ws=1 &la=en &si=1 &fs= &op0= &fl0=ContentType%3A &ty0=w &tx0= &op1=- &fl1=ContentType%3A &ty1=w &tx1=erased &op2=%2B &fl2=showcase%3A &ty2=p &tx2=ESAM1KZ84UC &qt= &ex= &rq=0 &oq= &searchType=general &qm=0 &ql=a &tipo=All &showcase=Navigation/Telecom &st=1 &nh=2 &lk=9 &rf=3 IMAGE CAPTIONS: [Image 1: http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEMWL2S1VED_index_1.html] TelAny can transfer data from the place where a medical emergency occurs to a remotely connected physician for immediate assistance via a wireless network. Credits: Kell S.r.l. [Image 2: http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEMWL2S1VED_index_1.html#subhead1] The satellite telemedicine van is an application developed through the innovative telemedicine network and used by the Italian Field Hospital involved in the peacekeeping mission in Sarajevo in 1996 and 1997. This enabled the mission to support the health care structure of the University Clinical Centre of Sarajevo and the IDI hospital in Tirana. The telemedicine satellite network combines videoconferencing with real-time data exchange between multimedia computers and medical peripherals of medical images such as X-rays, scans, pictures of pathology samples etc. The links between the hospitals are supported by up to four digital carriers of 384 kbits using capacity leased by ESA on the Eutelsat II-F4 satellite. This project was the result of cooperation between ESA, which provided the communication infrastructure; the Italian Space Agency ASI, which funded the pilot projects through ESA's ARTES programme; the Italian Ministry of Defense, which had the operational responsibility for the system; and TelBios, a consortium between the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan and Alenia Aerospazio, Rome, which proposed and coordinated the project. Credits: ESA [Image 3: http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEMWL2S1VED_index_1.html#subhead2] In a project called TelAny (Telemedicine Anywhere) funded by ESA, trials showed how satellite telecommunications can allow doctors to monitor and treat emergency cases or long term patients remotely. Credits: Kell S.r.l. [Image 4: http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEMWL2S1VED_index_1.html#subhead3] Data from the implanted pacemaker is downloaded to the patient's computer using an electronic reader. Physicians were able to retrieve data from the PC at the patient’s home in less than 30 seconds via a satellite Internet connection. Credits: Kell S.r.l.