Helmuth T Billy, MD1, Jaime Ponce, MD2. 1St. Johns Regional Medical Center, 2Dalton Surgical Group
Minimally invasive surgery utilizes high definition video cameras to perform complex procedures. Innovations in smartphone and tablet technology present the opportunity to link high definition video feeds from operating theaters with one or more remote parties directily to their smart phone and tablets. Current limitations in telementoring or telesurgery require expensive video linking systems in order to broadcast live video feeds to limited locations around the world. These applications are cumbersome and are limited to organized broadcassting of live surgery transmissions for educational purposes. We present a unique and novel interactive real time video transmission technology that enables surgeons to expand live surgery broadcasting in an almost instantaneous format. Telementoring and telesurgery applications are expanded directly to the smartphone or tablet of individual physicians and provides the ability for the mentor or collegue to annotate live via a smartphone or tablet directly to the operating surgeon. Multiple users can be connected as a student group to watch and discuss remotely during a live surgery directly on their smartphone via standard WiFi signals in an encripted HIPPA complaint format.
We present successfull utilization of this smartphone application connecting operating surgeons to collegues at remote sites visualizing and interacting directly with the operating surgeon using indiviual smartphone via real time audio and video transmission. Continued technological refinement can allow simple interoperative video communication and consultation between collegues, students and mentors in an almost instantaneous format. Utlization of smartphone technology as an interactive platform between surgeons can allow expanded educational training and preceptorship opportunites for surgeons in an inexpensive easy to install format in minimally invasive operating rooms