In what is believed to be a South African first, 10 orthopaedic surgeons watched a live operation in Australia via the Internet from Johannesburg last week. The surgeons were undergoing training and had instant access to some of the top minds in the field as they worked.
The live video streaming, along with a chat facility, allowed the surgeons to ask questions and make comments from Johannesburg as the operation progressed in Australia. At the same time a similar Internet connection was made to allow doctors in London to witness the operation.
The streaming was made possible using fibre optic connectivity and streaming technology provided by Internet Solutions (IS) and The Antfarm. The technology to link Johannesburg with Australia via Chicago allowed for near VHS video quality.
Infrastructure manager Dion Fowles says IS, in partnership with The Antfarm, is the first in SA to offer the service on a fibre optic link. "In the past, signals had to be carried by satellite, which results in transmission break-up as images are relayed between earth stations.
"The South African doctors watched the operation on big screens and were so impressed that they are coming back for more training using this technology," Fowles says.
The link to Australia via Chicago was set up at short notice - IS and The Antfarm technicians had only two days to make sure everything was in place for the high-speed Internet transmission.
Saki Missaikos, business solutions director at IS, says fibre-based interactive streaming will be offered as a service to the broader business community in future. "We expect to see tremendous growth in the use of live video streaming as it allows skills to be transferred from wherever experts are in the world."
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