Advances in Medical Education on Surgical Techniques Using Satellite Communications

In this article, we propose briefly the implementation of an integrated platform for the provision of advanced tele-medicine services over satellite, specifically tailored to the continuing medical education and training of health professionals on new surgical techniques. The system will enable the transmission of live high quality surgical video from operating rooms, including both panoramic and endoscopic view, in order to facilitate a) training of surgeons and/or students on advanced surgical techniques through the observation of live procedures using the da Vinci system and b) mentoring/proctoring of novice surgeons during their initial laparoscopic procedures. The system also provides interaction between trainees and local surgical tutors via videoconference. It is aimed at implementing an end-to-end solution, which will offer horizontal integration of the proposed tele-medicine service, with the offer of equipment and broadband satcom / telecom services, in a scalable and adaptable manner that can be easily replicated on a wider scale.