INTERNET2 ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY WORKING GROUP TAKES STEPS NEEDED TO MAKE INTERNET-BASED SURGERY A REALITY

WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 8, 2003 – A delegation of the Internet2(R) Orthopaedic Surgery Working Group is attending the Second Annual International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology Conference (SICOT/SIROT) in Cairo, Egypt this week to underscore the benefits of broadband high performance network access for advancing education and clinical research throughout the global orthopaedic surgery community.  Through advances in advanced networking applications such as haptics, surgical simulation training and collaborative videoconferencing technologies, Internet2 is enabling pioneering scientists in medical and technical fields to make minimally-invasive, Internet-based surgery techniques a future reality.

On Sept. 12, SICOT will hold the Second Symposium on Internet2 Applications to Orthopaedic Surgery.  Topics covered during the symposium will include an introduction to Internet2; a surgical simulation demonstration; an overview of regional and international Orthopaedic Research Networks; a discussion on the convergence of orthopaedic surgery and information technology, and much more.

“The Internet2 Symposium at SICOT will illustrate how demonstrations of live surgery can be linked with rich anatomical media resources and with live teaching so that expert surgeons and anatomists can reach students at remote sites throughout the world,” said Parvati Dev, Ph.D., member of the Internet2 Applications Strategy Council and part of the Internet2 delegation to Egypt.  “The immediacy of interactive live questions that fly between the students and the surgeons or anatomists creates a level of engagement that far exceeds the more passive presentations of one-way web casts.”

From Sept. 10 – 13, 2003, the Internet2 delegation will participate in a number of meetings to introduce Internet2 to Egyptian leaders in communications, information technology, higher education, and the global orthopaedic surgery community.  Access to a sustainable, global, information technology infrastructure with the capacity to deliver 100 percent reliable broadband access will make it possible for learning technologies, such as surgical simulations, to occur daily over advanced networks.  Meetings will occur with representatives from the following Egyptian organizations:

+ Egyptian University Network
+ Project Hope, Cairo
+ National Training Institute
+ Nasser Institute Hospital & Research Centre
+ Library of Alexandria

Members of the Internet2 delegation include: Dr. Chadwick Smith, Chair of the Internet2 Orthopaedic Surgery Working Group and President Elect SICOT; Terry Clark, M.D., President of Medantic, representing Cisco Learning Institute; Pavarti Dev, Ph.D. and Associate Dean of Learning Technologies, Stanford University; Ed Johansen, J.D., facilitator of the Internet2 Orthopaedic Working Group and the Internet2 Health Sciences Advisory Group; Mary Kratz, MT (ASCP), program manager of Internet2 Health Sciences, and Emmett McEleney, M.D., orthopaedic surgeon with the Mayo System.

Internet2 corporate member, Prous Science, will be recording the Internet2 symposium and related activities.  The recordings will be available in October 2003 at: http://health.internet2.edu/sicot2003.html.

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About the Internet2 Orthopaedic Surgery Working Group
The Internet2 Orthopaedic Surgery Working Group is raising interest and increasing engagement in applications that utilize advanced networks in telemedicine, telerobotics, and medical research with the goal of making minimally-invasive, Internet-based surgical techniques a reality.  For more information, visit: http://health.internet2.edu/WorkingGroups/OrthopaedicSurgery.html.

About Internet2(R)
Led by more than 200 U.S. universities, working with industry and government, Internet2 is developing and deploying 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 about Internet2, visit: http://www.internet2.edu/.

Contact:
Michelle Pollak, Internet2
+1-202-331-5345
mpollak@internet2.edu