BTV+ Provides World's First Live HD Endoscopic Medical Images Over Satellite

Oct 18, 2005 8:00 AM

BTV+, a leading provider of IP satellite connectivity, performed a world first by transmitting live high-definition endoscopic images to the World Congress on Therapeutic Endoscopy. Such HD images had never been transmitted before.

The live surgical procedures, which were performed by the Wellesley Team at St. Michael's Hospital and visiting world experts, were transmitted by BTV+ from the Toronto hospital to some 3,000 gastroenterologists and therapeutic endoscopists assembled at the Congress Centre in Montreal.

Many live procedures were conducted on Sept. 12, 13, and 14, 2005, using the newest HD Olympus endoscopes. The scopes had previously been used in hospital suites, but their outputs had never been networked over great distances. BTV+ was asked by the Wellesley Team and Olympus to join St. Michaels' Hospital and the Montreal Congress Centre.

"We are very proud to have been of service to the therapeutic endoscopy team at St. Mike's," says Larry Steinman, president and CEO of BTV+. "We have performed several firsts since we began serving Dr. Norman Marcon and his endoscopy faculty since 1982. In the early days, the endoscopes were small-screen, black-and-white, with poor resolution. Today, we are transmitting excellent live pictures from inside the body—in high definition and displayed on huge 16'x20' screens, using digital projectors."

Four display screens (two stage left and two stage right) were used to present the endoscopy procedures, with each pair showing one of two program signals. The high-definition endoscopy images were shown on a Barco ELM R12, a 12000-lumen, 3 DLP projector (1600x1280). The operating room camera output that showed the doctors performing used 9000-lumen Christie projectors.

BTV+ has provided all network, projection, interaction, and polling services for the International Course on Therapeutic Endoscopy since the first course in 1982.

The use of HD for digital signage, HD cinema, sponsored events, and private broadcast will assist organizations in achieving their branding and revenue goals, and BTV+ provides the connectivity needed.

BTV+ innovation was recognized even in its earliest years. In the era before glasnost, and open relations between the United States and the USSR, BTV+ provided a communication link between the Russian MIR space station and public school students in Boston.

For more information, visit www.btvplus.com.