Sydney, AUSTRALIA
– 8 August 2008 – AARNet, Australia’s National Research Education Network (NREN)
has facilitated the participation of surgeons from Royal Brisbane Hospital and
Concord Repatriation Hospital in Sydney to a live tele-surgery demonstration
from Kyoto University in Japan being held in conjunction with the Asian Pacific
Advanced Network (APAN) conference in Queenstown, New
Zealand.
On 7th
August 2008, conference delegates witnessed Dr. Sakai from Kyoto University
Hospital, Japan
perform colo-rectal laparoscopic surgery whilst interacting with peers in
New Zealand,
Philippines and
Japan together with
Australian surgeons from Concord Repatriation
General Hospital and
Royal
Brisbane Hospital. In Australia the participants included Professor
Russell Stitz and Dr Andrew Stevenson from Royal Brisbane Hospital and Professor Bokey from Concord Repatriation Hospital.
This event was
made possible through a collaborative effort between AARNet, KAREN (Kiwi
Advanced Research and Education Network) and peer research networks in
Japan and the Philippines.
The two sites
participating from Australia were interacting in real
time using DVTS, a system for the real time transmission of high resolution and
low latency video and audio across the Internet. Using DVTS, 60 Mbit/s was both
transmitted and received for the duration between Australia and Japan
across TEIN2 (Trans Eurasian Information Network) and Southern Cross Cable
Network..
Chris Hancock,
CEO of AARNet said, “Allowing a trainee to see what an expert surgeon is doing
during an operation and ask questions will help promote learning and
development. The use of high-definition
cameras and high capacity networks like AARNet and KAREN means that the
‘watching and asking’ can be done from almost anywhere when there are good
network connections to the site of the live surgery.”
“AARNet’s
participation in APAN26 highlights the possibilities and benefits a high speed
network can bring towards furthering research and education between
Australia, Asia and
New
Zealand. The ability to bring geographically
diverse researchers together through a high-speed network is a significant
enabler for learning and teaching in advanced medical
sciences.”
Professor Russell
Stitz of Royal
Brisbane Hospital said of the surgical
demonstration, “It is a great opportunity for teaching and I think it’s an
underutilised mechanism for training people in anatomy and training people in
technical surgery.”
In September
2007, AARNet facilitated a live, two-way digital connection between
Korea University Hospital in Seoul,
Korea and seven other
hospitals in Australia,
China, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, India and France.
The participation by Concord
Hospital in Sydney allowed leading
Australian Surgeons to collaborate in a shared surgical event, hosted at the
24th APAN (Asia Pacific Advanced Network) Meeting in Xi'an
China.
- ENDS
-
For further information, please
contact:
Tara
Schwarze
Max
Australia
+61
2 9954 3492
tara.schwarze@maxaustralia.com.au
About
AARNet
AARNet Pty Ltd (APL) is the company that operates Australia's Academic and Research
Network (AARNet). It is a not-for-profit company limited by shares. The
shareholders are 37 Australian universities and the CSIRO. AARNet provides
high-capacity leading edge Internet services for the tertiary education and
research sector communities and their research partners. AARNet serves more than
one million end users who access the network through local area networks at
member institutions. For further information, please visit: www.aarnet.edu.au.
