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WORLD’S 1 ST 3-D HIGH DEFINITION (HD) TELEMEDICINE TRANSMISSION IN OPHTHALMOLOGY 16 FEB 2006, SINGAPORE NATIONAL EYE CENTRE AUDITORIUM

Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) co-hosts with Panasonic Systems Solutions, Japan a live surgery transmission to demonstrate a new telemedicine platform using its unique 3D-HD system via the Asia Broadband Network with Asahikawa Medical College (AMC) of Hokkaido, Japan.

This new technology is being evaluated by the two project institutions, AMC, Japan and SNEC, Singapore with support from Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (iDA), Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, Singapore Advanced Research and Education Network (SingAREN) and its counterpart, National Institute of Information and Communication Technology (NICT), Japan.

On 16 February 2006 (Thursday) we will launch the experimentation project. This is the first time vitreo-retinal surgery will be transmitted using the 3-D HD format via the Asia Broadband (a new high-speed 155Mbps R&D link between Singapore and Japan) live to the audience in Singapore. We are honoured to have Mr Heizo Takenaka, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communication of Japan who will send congratulatory greetings to the Singapore audience during the launch ceremony.

WORLD’S 1 ST 3-D HIGH DEFINITION (HD) TELEMEDICINE TRANSMISSION IN OPHTHALMOLOGY, 16 FEB 2006
SINGAPORE NATIONAL EYE CENTRE AUDITORIUM

The technical partners and supporting organisations for this first ever 3-D HD live surgery transmission event who will be represented at the launch include:

• Panasonic Systems Solutions Company, Japan who is supplying the 3D-HD video system and software
  Represented by: Mr Hiroshi Sasanuma, Project Manager, Solutions Platform Group and Mr Yasuyuki Suzuki, Executive Advisor)

• Singapore Advanced Research And Education Network (SingAREN)
  Represented by: Assoc Prof Francis Lee Bu Sung, President SingAREN
  Vice Dean, Research, School of Computer Engineering, National Technological University

• StarHub
  Represented by Mr Jude Tan, Assistant General Manager, Corporate Sales – Financial, Professional, Healthcare

• National Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Japan Represented by: Ms Asako Toyoda, General Manager
  

• Singapore National Eye Centre
  Represented by: Clincal Assoc Prof Ang Chong Lye, Director, SNEC




• Asahikawa Medical College Dept of Ophthalmology
  Represented by: Prof Akitoshi Yoshida, Chairman

• Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (iDA)
Represented by: Dr Tan Geok Leng, CTO



• Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, Japan
  Represented by: Mr Heizo Takenaka, Minister

The transmission is undertaken as part of the Asia Broadband Advanced IT Cooperative Experiments project promoted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan and the Infocomm Development Agency (iDA) in Singapore and contributes towards the establishing of the international hub on global info-communications in Asia.

The live surgery will be transmitted from AMC to SNEC using Internet Protocol (IP) Multicast technology, utilizing a separate Internet Protocol Video Conferencing (IPVC) unit based on the H.264 standard for communication between doctors from AMC and SNEC.

The link setup for this experiment joins AMC from the city of Asahikawa in Hokkaido, Japan via a 155Mbps SONET link established between NICT and SingAREN. Starhub came in to bridge the last leg of the link to SNEC through Starhub’s 155Mbps ATM cloud. (See attached network diagram)

In Stage 1 of the experimentation, Professor Akitoshi Yoshida MD, PhD, Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, Asahikawa Medical College w ill perform live vitreo-retinal surgery and transmit to the SNEC using the 3D-HD format. Singapore National Eye Centre will receive the live eye surgery images through the special prototype 3D-HD equipment set up in the Centre for the evaluation of the quality of images, depth feel, stability of transmission, and experimenting with varying bit-rate from 18 Mbps,

22 Mbps to 25 Mbps per channel for use in telemedicine. A total of 25 eye surgeons in the SNEC are participating in the evaluation exercise.

The proposed Stage 2of the experimentation will involve equipping SNEC to transmit in a similar manner live surgery in the 3D-HD format. SNEC plans to organize live surgery demonstrations and teaching courses to host eye surgeons in the region to view the eye operations using this latest breakthrough in audio-visual technology.

The 3-D technology can greatly enhance the teaching of ophthalmic surgery versus the conventional 2-D system. The audience will wear special 3-D viewing glasses. For the first time, they will see exactly what the operating surgeon sees through the microscope – in true 3-dimension and enhanced by the high definition (HD) picture perfect quality. Audience currently can only view surgery using the standard 2-dimensional transmission and screen thus missing a lot of the details important to microsurgery such as depth perception, precise surgical manoeuvres and techniques which can only be picked up in the surgeon’s view through the microscope.

This technology now enables 3-D surgery visualization to be transmitted on screen and in High Definition clarity to be viewed by every doctor under training greatly enhancing the surgical training potential. One begins to appreciate how critical these are to the success and quality of the surgery when one realizes that in microsurgery, the eye surgeon deals with incisions, retractions, tissue removal and suturing in millimeters precision. Improved visualization and training will bring about better surgical training and outcomes which will ultimately benefit patients.

This experimentation will promote not only the further cooperation and exchange in ophthalmology between Japan and Singapore but also set the stage for SNEC to continue to pursue its regional training role with the capability of transmitting and teaching state-of-the-art eye surgery using the latest 3D-HD telemedicine platform to eye surgeons all over the region.