Design and Implementation of Satellite-Based Networks and Services for Ubiquitous Access to Healthcare
Georgi Graschew, A. Theo, Stefan Rakowsky, Peter M. · Sciyo eBooks · 2010
MethodologyDuring the last years OP 2000 (Operating Room of the future) has designed, developed and validated various modules for interactive telemedicine services (Schlag et al. 1999;Graschew et al. 2000).One of the key elements is the interactive telecommunication module WoTeSa / WinVicos: WoTeSa, a dedicated Workstation for Telemedical applications via Satellite that uses the communication software WinVicos (Wavelet-based interactive Video communication system).WoTeSa is a PC with sufficient processing capacity ( 3 GHz Pentium IV, 512 MB RAM), one or more Osprey video capture boards (Osprey 100 or Osprey 500), a camera with composite and s-video outputs as live source (e. g.Canon VC-C4); a second camera as document camera for transmission of non-digital images; standard headset or microphone with small loudspeakers.The different video inputs of the Osprey video capture card can be used for direct connection to various medical video sources.WoTeSa thus serves quasi as a medical video hub.It is noteworthy that WoTeSa is a dedicated workstation and yet it can be realised with off-the-shelf components, thus making it readily available and at the same time very flexible and adaptive.WinVicos is an all-software high-quality interactive video communication system, supplying real-time video, still-image and audio-transmission.WinVicos is especially designed for telemedical applications (e.g.telesurgery, teleradiology, telepathology) using a hybrid speed-optimised wavelet-codec that is based on the concepts of Partition, Aggregation and Conditional Coding (PACC; Patent DE 197 34 542 A1 from "Deutsche Telekom", Darmstadt, Germany).In contrast to most mainstream video coding systems that are mostly optimised for cinema and home entertainment, the PACC codec does not employ motion estimation but maximises the frame resolution to allow for maximal details to be visualised.WinVicos communicates IP-based and allows for online scaling of the transmission parameters (bit rate, frame rate and frame size from 128x96 up to 640x480 pixel).It supports both point-to-point and multipoint communication scenarios.Besides high quality live video transmission using moderate bandwidths (0.5-1 Mbit/s) it also allows for still-image transmission.WinVicos is very easy to use: there is a main user interface that is sufficient for the standard actions of the user.This includes calling the video conference partner via a telephone book, adjustment of both local and remote transmission parameters, as well as speaker and microphone volume control (see Fig. 1).In both the video windows and the still-image windows WinVicos supports the use of common cursors shared by the conference partners.As WinVicos is an all-software system not only the implementation of other video codecs can be readily realised, but also a continuous performance improvement is supported to keep up with recent developments in the field.The most recent version of WinVicos also supports the transmission of video streams in full high definition (HD) resolution.Further readings on WoTeSa and WinVicos can be found in the literature (Graschew et al., 2001).Other telemedicine systems are used e.g. for tele-ultrasound in rural areas where telementoring by live videoconferencing allowed to guide the ultrasound technician to record additional images of the patient (O'Neill et al., 2000) for clinical assessment of www.intechopen.com How to referenceIn order to correctly reference this scholarly work, feel free to copy and paste the following: Georgi Graschew, Theo A. Roelofs, Stefan Rakowsky and Peter M. Schlag