High-Definition Surgical Procedure Videos and Medical Slide Images Streamed Overseas
OKI Networks Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of OKI Electric Industry Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:6703), that designs and manufactures telecommunication products, today announced it has partnered with Kyushu University to successfully stream live HD-resolution(*1) surgical procedure videos to overseas recipients.
This feat was demonstrated in the 29th Asia-Pacific Advanced Network Conference(*2) held in Sydney from February 8th-11th as part of medical working group to illustrate some of the group's activities. In the demonstration, OKI Network's "OKI MediaServer"(*3) was connected remotely to a media system located at Kyushu University, after which videos of high-definition surgical procedures and medical slide images were streamed from Kyushu University to the APAN venue, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital in Seoul, Korea, and to the Kyoto Second Red Cross Hospital, in Kyoto, Japan.
Kyushu University has pursued telemedicine education with a special focus on Asia, establishing ultra high-speed Internet connections with 115 universities and medical institutions in 24 countries by the end of 2009. Using this network, it has delivered videos of medical conferences and endoscopic surgical procedures. However, since the conventional surgical video delivery used the DVTS(*4) method, the number of sites to which the videos could be delivered concurrently was limited to between four to eight to ensure the bandwidth needed. Moreover, the video data transferred was at merely standard resolution (SD).
"I am delighted that the Kyushu University team has selected our 'OKI MediaServer' to resolve the various issues confronting them," said Masasuke Kishi, President of OKI Networks. "With its established reputation in the area of video library systems and IPTV services, the product allows the university to build an experimental system to stream videos not just to locations in Japan, but to locations overseas. Drawing on a powerful combination of technical expertise and superlative research, I believe we will successfully meet the future demands of video-based communication infrastructure systems, based on our concurrent streaming technology."
The experimental system compresses HD-resolution surgical videos by the H.264/AVC(*5) method using an HVE9100 high-performance hardware encoder from NTT Electronics located at Kyushu University hospital, thereby enabling concurrent streaming through the "OKI MediaServer" to multiple domestic and international sites.
Running on a standard PC, "OKI Player" software allows the recipient to view and review video data based on advanced video technologies. The software permits the viewing of high-definition surgical procedure videos streamed from the server. The high resolution of the video data allows ready identification of various details. The video data delivered is encrypted in real-time on the sending server, then decoded by "OKI Player". This allows systems concerned about patient privacy to use the system without cryptographic communication devices.
Building on today's achievements, OKI Networks plans to move forward with plans to deploy video-based communication infrastructure systems that draw on its concurrent streaming technology at the sites of various regional governments and businesses. These systems will be tailored to specific image delivery and network development needs.
System Overview
The system is a live video library system that uses an HD-compatible encoder, based on the "OKI MediaServer" IP video delivery system. Delivery to terminals located in different countries is via Unicast(*6)/UDP.(*7)
[Glossary]
*1 : HD
High Definition; referring to high-resolution images for display on television and videos. BS digital and terrestrial digital broadcasting are also referred to as HD broadcasting.
*2 : Asia-Pacific Advanced Network (APAN)
Established in 1997, Asia-Pacific Advanced Network is both the name of the experimental backbone network linking the Asia Pacific region and the organization promoting this network. APAN-JP, its affiliate in Japan, consists of members from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, and the WIDE project. Japan serves as the network's hub within Asia, with Korea, China, and South East Asian countries connecting to other countries through Japan. The basis of the network is a mixed-type consisting of a hierarchical link and various branch links. This mixed network is based on a primary link to the USA, with various branching spurs. Japan, China, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam are all part of the network. The general APAN Meeting assembly meets once every six months. The most recent meeting held February 8th-11th was the 29th such meeting.
*3 : OKI MediaServer
This is an IP video delivery system. It is equipped with typical video delivery functions as standard and it can be easily deployed in various systems that utilizes video and audio, including VOD, live delivery systems, satellite stations and monitoring systems. In addition to functioning as a server for broadcasting for cable television, as in this case, "OKI MediaServer" can also be used as an IPTV server for telecommunication carriers, capitalizing on standard compatibility and technology to comply with large-scale servers.
*4 : DVTS (Digital Video Transport System)
DVTS is a system that transmits digital formatted data without compression at a bandwidth of 25-30 Mbps. It delivers digital videos without degrading image quality, but it poses high significant bandwidth requirements".
*5 : H.264/AVC
H.264 is a standard compression coding method for video data developed by the ITC (International Telecommunication Union) and established in May 2005. Compared with traditionally used MPEG-2, it only requires, half the data to achieve the same apparent quality. Note that the ISO (International Standard Organization) has now established H.264/AVC as a subset of the MPEG-4 (MPEG-4 Part 10 Advanced Video Coding) standard.
*6 : Unicasting
In networking, unicasting refers to transmitting messages by addressing a single network destination. Addressing multiple destinations is known as multicasting.
*7 : UDP (User Datagram Protocol)
This is a standard set of network protocols used for the Internet. It represents the transport layer on an OSI reference model and functions as a bridge for protocols for layers above the network layer IP and the session layer. UDP is used as a protocol for video delivery and IP telephony images/sound data. It offers higher transmission speeds that TCP but lower reliability.
Note:
-The names of the companies and products referenced in this document are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies and organizations.
About Oki Networks Co., Ltd.
Established on October 1, 2008, OKI Networks is a company spun off from OKI Electric to focus on the sales, marketing, product planning, and development of OKI's telecommunication products. Tokyo-based OKI Networks currently has approximately 590 employees. Visit the OKI Networks' website at: http://www.oki-networks.com/.
About Kyushu University Hospital
Located in Fukuoka in southern Japan and established in 1903, this hospital provides advanced, integrated, and patient-centered health care services for the whole person, as well as contributing to the training of doctors, dentists and other health care service staff for healthcare into the 21st century. Visit the Kyushu University Hospital website at : http://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/english/university/hospital/index.php
Contacts:
Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
Sonomi Kitamura,
+81-3-5403-1247
Public Relations Division
press@oki.com
