Telehealth Exam in Antarctica Streams Live to New Delhi, India

Telehealth Exam in Antarctica with ProEX – Ashok Hotel, New Delhi, India February 27th, 2019

Over 600 attendees from 35 countries watch the telehealth exam in Antarctica as Dr Jan Wallace assesses Dawson Station mechanic Tom for a possible head and jaw injury. Using the Visionflex ProEX Desktop to switch seamlessly from video-enabled glasses to a high-resolution dental probe you’d be forgiven for thinking they were right next door instead of some 15,000 kilometres away in the most remote region on earth: Antarctica.

There was applause as Dr Jeff Ayton revealed that the diagnostic images taken just moments earlier had automatically appeared in Tom’s patient record at Australian Antarctic Division headquarters in Hobart, Tasmania. After all, they all just witnessed a telehealth exam in Antarctica, many hundred kilometres away.

Fortunately, Tom was fine. This time it was a staged demonstration with fake blood. In this harsh environment the risk of injury is a constant threat and it’s the job of Chief Medical Officer Dr Jeff Ayton to investigate and implement innovative ways to ensure the health and safety of everyone on the station. Dr Ayton selected the ProEX Desktop Telehealth Hub from Visionflex because it represents the cutting edge in remote imaging technology.

“Our doctors provide support for expeditioners on Australian Antarctic stations and on ships plying the Southern Ocean,” Dr Ayton said.

“We use advanced telehealth systems for remote diagnosis and treatment of patients. We have access to real-time monitoring and real-time imaging. Providing 24/7 support to the distant doctor and the community that they are serving.

“We also have a well-established network of specialists in Tasmania and around the country to support healthcare delivery.

“The Centre for Antarctic Remote & Maritime Medicine (CARMM) will bring all this acquired knowledge together to help provide highly specialised care in other isolated and extreme environments, such as off-shore islands and remote communities.”

About Visionflex

Visionflex is an Australian company focussed on connecting isolated patients to health services with cutting edge technology for fast diagnosis.

We want to live in a world where everyone has access to high quality healthcare, no matter who you are or where you are in the world.

Connecting remote patients to healthcare doesn’t get any more challenging than in the Antarctic.

The ProEX Telehealth Hub and ProEX Mobile go way beyond video conferencing to provide a state-of-the-art solution to the problem of remote patient imaging & diagnosis.

About CARMM

The Centre for Antarctic Remote and Maritime (CARMM), is a collaborative network of founding partner organisations based in the Antarctic Gateway City of Hobart Tasmania, Australia. CARMM delivers healthcare in remote and extreme environments training, education, clinical services and research and innovation.