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Objectives
T@HIS is a telemedical network connecting physicians and hospitals over a new-generation satellite network based on the recently launched AmerHis payload on the AMAZONAS satellite.
Within the project three remote clinics in Amazonas, Para states in Brazil have been connected to a referral hospital in Belém, the capital city of Pará. The dominant type of images transferred over the system is ultrasound images, acquired from portable or stationary ultrasound devices. The medical applications include general examinations as well as obstetric and gynecology. However the applied platform handles any imaging modality and particularly DICOM formatted data.
The state of Pará presents the rate of general mortality of 3,65 deaths in 1.000 inhabitants. The main reasons are the blood circulation diseases and birth associated diseases. The aim of the current medical implementation was to improve the access to medical resources, available only to rural cities from the isolated areas in Amazon in Para prefecture.
Challenges
- Demonstrate the advantages of using Telemedicine applications to improve the health assistance provided to underserved regions,
- Demonstrate the advantages and feasibility of regenerative Satellite systems to provide and fulfil the interconnection needs of such telemedicine applications,
- Demonstrate the sustainability of the Telemedicine applications over satellite in regions with low telecom infrastructures.
Plan
The planning of the project has four phases:
- T@LEMED requirements definition to prepare the integration within the AmerHis system for the first month,
- In Factory tests of the medical equipment in a test bed in AAS-E premises for the duration of one month,
- First Deployment in a site and In Orbit tests with the real Amazonas satellite for a period of one month (after a successful previous phase),
- And finally the network will be extended to the rest of the cities providing service up to the sixth month of the project.
Current Status
The installations of the RCS terminals were finalised in the four sites in October 2007:
Reference Hospital in Santa Casa
Remote sites: Breves, Portel, Gurupá.
Connectivity at Gurupá was lost and there are open actions to restore it. A spare ODU has been sent to the site, and an IDU is also on its way to Gurupá.
The Santa Casa MD’s explained some fundaments of the telemedicine project to the two remote towns and the medical team discussed the type and volume of the exams to be transmitted to Santa Casa on a daily/weekly basis. The sites have agreed with the following schedule (Breves site to confirm preferences):
| Day of Week | Morning Shift | Afternoon Shift |
| Monday | Gurupa | Portel |
| Tuesday | (available to Breves) | (available to Breves) |
| Wednesday | (available to Breves) | Portel |
| Thursday | (available to Breves) | (available to Breves) |
| Friday | Portel | Gurupa |
Pilot operations will run until the end of April 2008.
