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/proc-toring 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.