Successful streaming of unique non-intubated thoracic surgeries

Prague, 16 December 2016. Two non-intubated thoracic surgery procedures were streamed by CESNET from the Brno University Hospital to the Masaryk University campus during the NITS symposium on 9 December. In both cases, the unique technique for wedge resection of the lung and lobectomy was demonstrated by experts from the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei. This was the first time ever that such extensive non-intubated procedures, treating the patient as gently as possible, were performed in the Czech Republic.

The streams were transmitted by UltraGrid, a platform developed by CESNET, and made a good impression both in terms of the quality of images, especially from a laparoscopic camera, and interactivity.

UltraGrid is used not only for live streaming of surgical procedures to medical conferences but also for routine training of medical students at teaching hospitals. High-quality, low-latency streams are also used for training in other fields such as microbiology. In addition, UltraGrid has been successfully deployed in a number of artistic fields, be it distributed musical and dance performances or the restoration and post-production of film material.

CESNET has long been involved in ensuring high quality medical streams and supports them with its own development. It is among the leading organisations in this field. It regularly presents its work at major professional forums and cooperates with leading medical facilities throughout the world. The streams in Full HD and 4K resolution, as well as in 3D, will enable the scientific community to share findings across large distances, while maintaining the image quality.

The CESNET Association was founded by Czech universities and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic in 1996. It is engaged in research and development in information and communication technologies and builds and develops the CESNET national e-infrastructure for research and education. Thanks to its research activities and accomplishments, it represents the Czech Republic in important international projects, particularly in building the pan-European GÉANT network project or grid projects (EGI.eu), and actively participates in their implementation. The Association also works on the use of high-speed networks for sharing multimedia data both through synchronous video conferencing and shared applications, and asynchronous streaming.

Last change: 14.11.2017