Sony HD video conferencing system could be one more way to improve quality of patient care

Dr. Shyamali Singhal often facilitates the tumor board at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, but her recent meeting was anything but typical.

Physicians from the City of Hope National Medical Center participated in the meeting at El Camino Hospital without leaving their Southern California conference room. The interactive meeting was made possible with the help of new technology from Sony Electronics’ high-definition communications IP-based visual communications system, which is being tested at El Camino. To make it work, both institutions must have the same equipment.

Video conferencing has been around for years, but the technology doesn’t provide the necessary clarity to view diagnostic images.

“What’s unique is that the combination of the two technologies -- HD and video conferencing, now for the first time, allows real, two-way interactive collaboration and sharing of images and data, at levels of precise detail, clarity and resolution not possible with standard definition, from individual blood vessels in a surgical video to the granular details of a pathology slide,” said Tom di Nome, spokesman for Sony who is working on the project.

“This can lead to a much greater understanding of the data that is being shared and is invaluable for applications such as training, education and physician collaboration,” he said.

A patient’s medical records are reviewed by a variety of medical professionals in a tumor board meeting to determine the best treatments for the patient. The HD conference technology opens a broad window of opportunity for a local physician to get council from specialists around the country.
On Feb. 1, Dr. Singhal invited physicians from the City of Hope to help her with a liver tumor case. “It was great. It was like they were in the next room,” she said.

HD video, combined with a stereo sound system, creates such a sharp image on the screen, it appears to the viewer as if they are looking through a window.

“I’m a surgical oncologist, and I want the ability to discuss these complicated patients with a large number of physicians and connect with an institution that has access to a variety of resources and clinical trials,” said Dr. Singhal.

The system has a price tag of $70,000, and the service is not billable to insurance at this point, Dr. Singhal says. Doctors volunteer their time for tumor board meetings, so insurance will not likely reimburse for this technology in the future.

The technology just became available in July 2006, and Sony has other medical uses for it in the near future.

“Other medical applications that may prove viable include medical education and training, such as viewing of surgeries and other medical procedures,” said Di Nome. “Sony is also looking at the possibility of extending applications to medical uses beyond educational through the Food & Drug Administration’s 510k process.”

The approval of a 510k process would give the Sony technology an endorsement from the FDA as a device that works within certain parameters.

An academic medical center is a huge bank of knowledge for early stage cancer treatments, but only about 25 percent of all cancer patients are actually treated in the academic setting, said Dr. Singhal.
The majority of cancer patients are treated in their local hospital or physician office.
“This technology gives us community physicians a way to improve care,” she said.

—By Troy May

Troy May is editor of Bay Area Oncology News. You can reach him at tmay@baoncologynews.com.

Posted on February 14, 2007 09:25 AM