Doctors from eight hospitals across the globe have participated in a live, two-way surgical event, hosted at the 24th Asia Pacific Advanced Network (APAN) Meeting in Xi'an, China.
The event allowed hospitals from Australia, Korea, China, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, India and France to view and discuss a laparoscopic surgery as it was performed in Korea.
A 30 Mbps high quality, high resolution videoconferencing system allowed the conference to take place, and was provided by Australia's Academic and Research Network (AARNet), which provides internet services to education and research communities.
AARNet said the capacity to bridge vast geographical divides is a significant tool in enabling medical specialists around the world to learn and teach each other advanced procedures.
Chris Hancock, CEO of AARNet, said, "Now we can virtually transport a surgeon, neurologist or cardiologist anywhere around the globe, using video quality that is of greater fidelity than traditional videoconferencing."
Professor Shinju Shimizu, chairman of APAN's Medical Working Group and Professor at Japan's Kyushu University, said, "This is our most successful collaboration so far and shows the power of such interactions."
