RSNA 2003 PRESENTS FIRST WORLD-WIDE MULTICAST OF IMAGE INTERPRETATION SESSION SHOWCASE OVER GLOBAL ADVANCED NETWORKS

EVANSTON, Ill. – December 5, 2003 - The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), Northwestern University, Video Furnace, Prous Science, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), and the Metropolitan Research and Education Network (MREN), in collaboration with advanced digital networks around the world multicast the Sunday Image Interpretation session during the annual RSNA conference.

For the first time ever, this RSNA plenary session was simulcast live as the event took place in the Arie Crown Theater at Chicago’s McCormick Place Conference Center on Sun., Nov. 30. The image interpretation session, a tradition at the annual RSNA conference, features a team of distinguished panelists who identify abnormal findings on imaging studies and make recommendations for further procedures or treatment. Participating physicians discuss cases presented by the internationally renowned panelists and receive Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits for their participation. “This represents an absolutely perfect example of a great use for this technology. Instead of limiting the knowledge distribution from this world renowned panel of experts to the several thousand attendees at the meeting in Chicago, we can now bring this expertise into the home, office, laboratory, and medical center, of every medical student, resident, physician, and radiologist in the world”, said David S. Channin MD, Associate Professor of Radiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine’s Department of Radiology.

This event demonstrates the future of advanced digital media, which make many new specialized communications channels possible - in contrast to mass market channels.  Northwestern University’s Department of Radiology and International Center for Advanced Internet Research (iCAIR) organized this advanced technology event, working  with the RSNA, the MPEA, and several other advanced technology partners to provide unique digital services at the conference.  “The fact that we could deliver real-time data feeds of both interactive medical images as well as full fidelity audio and video of the presenters speaks to the power of this next generation networking technology,” Channin added.  Server scalable Internet multicast technology, provided by Video Furnace and Prous Science, enables anyone with a notebook or desktop computer connected to a multicast-capable advanced Internet network to receive the multicast session. The MPEA and MREN provided advanced networking connections to the Internet2 Abilene research and education network as well as other high performance national networks that are multicast-enabled. Global connectivity was made possible through the MREN connection to the StarLight international network exchange on Northwestern University's Chicago campus, which interconnects high performance research and education networks throughout the world.

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About RSNA
The mission of the Radiological Society of North America is to promote and develop the highest standards of radiology and related sciences through education and research. The Society seeks to provide radiologists and allied health scientists with educational programs and materials of the highest quality, and to constantly improve the content and value of these educational activities. The Society seeks to promote research in all aspects of radiology and related sciences, including basic clinical research in the promotion of quality healthcare. The Society seeks to foster closer fellowship among all radiologists and greater cooperation among radiologists and members of other branches of medicine and allied healthcare professionals (www.rsna.org).

About Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Northwestern University
The Department of Radiology is involved in multiple educational and research programs to advance medical imaging. In particular, the department has special expertise in Imaging Informatics, the application of computer science techniques and technologies to medical imaging. In collaboration with Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the Radiology Department provides a complete range of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology services in a filmless, digital environment.  Founded in 1851, Northwestern University is one of the country’s leading private research and teaching universities with an enrollment of approximately 7,700 full-time undergraduate students and approximately 17,000 total undergraduate, graduate and professional students on campuses in Evanston and Chicago. (http://www.northwestern.edu.).

About International Center for Advanced Internet Research (iCAIR), Northwestern University
iCAIR accelerates leading-edge innovation and enhanced global communications through advanced Internet technologies, in partnership with the international community, and national partners ( www.icair.org).

About Prous Science
Prous Science has been providing information and communication services on drug R&D, pharmacology, medicine and medicinal chemistry since 1958. The company's information tools, known for the accuracy and high quality of their content, have become industry standards. Prous Science's goal is constantly to improve access to and management of drug and medical information by continually incorporating the latest in information technology, and has adopted the Internet as a strategic technology (www.prous.com).

About Video Furnace
Video Furnace is an IP video software engineering and systems applications company that develops, licenses and installs IP video systems for high-speed private networks (enterprises). The company's IP Video System is the only end-to-end solution that brings live video to any network-connected viewing device, such as notebook or desktop computers, without requiring the user to install any resident player software or hardware. Video Furnace has extensive experience in digital video delivery systems and a long history of development in media, gaming and broadband video solutions, including advanced digital video for the Internet. (www.videofurnace.com)

About Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA)
The MPEA is a municipal corporation created by the Illinois General Assembly. Its Board of Directors is appointed by the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago. MPEA owns and manages the McCormick Place complex and seeks to promote and operate conventions, fairs and expositions in the Chicago area, in an effort to strengthen the local economy. (www.mpea.com).

About Metropolitan Research and Education Network (MREN)
The Metropolitan Research and Education Network (MREN) is an advanced high-performance regional research and education network. Although MREN's primary focus is on providing advanced digital communications for leading-edge research and educational applications, it also addresses more general networking requirements. MREN is a collaborative effort undertaken as an interdisciplinary, interorganizational, cooperative partnership. (www.mren.org).

About Internet2(R)
Led by more than 200 U.S. universities working with industry and government, Internet2 develops and deploys advanced network applications and technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the creation of tomorrow’s Internet.  Internet2 recreates the partnerships among academia, industry, and government that helped foster today’s Internet in its infancy.  For more information,  (www.internet2.edu).

About StarLight (sm)
StarLight is an advanced optical infrastructure and proving ground for network services optimized for high-performance applications. Operational since summer 2001, StarLight has 1GE and 10GE switch/router facilities and true optical switching for wavelengths. StarLight is being developed by the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), the International Center for Advanced Internet Research (iCAIR) at Northwestern University, and the Mathematics and Computer Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory, in partnership with Canada's CANARIE and the Netherlands' SURFnet.  StarLight is made possible by major funding from the US National Science Foundation to UIC. StarLight is a service mark of the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. See (www.startap.net/starlight).

Contact:
David Channin, MD               Joe Mambretti, iCAIR
Northwestern Univ.                      Northwestern Univ.
312 926 9165                    847-467-3911