Smith and Nephew has teamed up with Avail Medsystems to provide remote, real-time collaboration services to its customers, directly in the operating room.
Streamlining procedures in both hospitals and ambulatory surgery centres (ASCs) is becoming increasingly important with operating room space at a premium, a company press release argues. By utilising the Avail Procedural Telemedicine System—a remotely accessible console with an integrated split-screen display, multiple remotely controllable HD pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and an ability to remotely annotate over live video—Smith and Nephew say they will offer its customers the option of remote procedure support, proctoring, and collaboration where space, or other restrictions, are a concern. It enables sales representatives, medical education professionals and visiting surgeons who are not physically in the operating room to still actively participate in a case.
“By working with Avail Medsystems, they [Smith and Nephew] are able to bring visiting surgeons and sales reps into the operating room using a fully interactive telecommunication format that can be superior to even having the actual person being there,” Thomas Byrd (Nashville Hip Institute, Nashville, USA) comments.
The telemedicine system does not replace a person being in the operating room, but rather augments the procedure being performed in a way that previously was not possible. Avail has already begun placing their consoles, free of charge, in hospital and ASC facilities across the USA, and offers companies like Smith and Nephew a time-based subscription, usable at their discretion, to access consoles across the Avail network.
