Advanced Technologies and Wireless Telecommunications Enhance Care and Medical Training at the Ryder Trauma Cente...( MIAMI Dec. 3 /- The William Lehman In...)

MIAMI, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The William Lehman Injury Research Center (WLIRC), an internationally recognized research facility located at the University of Miami/Jackson Medical Center's Ryder Trauma Center; the U.S. Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC); the Army Trauma Training Center (ATTC); the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) and Qualcomm, through its Wireless Reach(TM) initiative, today announced their collaboration to expand the reach and clinical effectiveness of physicians using the InTouch Health, RP-7(R) robot for trauma care.

For the past year, WLIRC has been working with the U.S. Army's Trauma Training Center, co-located at Ryder, to study the feasibility of using the robot to support trauma care. This new collaborative effort will build on previous research by demonstrating how trauma specialists can use wireless broadband to remotely operate the robot.

"There is a shortage of specialized trauma physicians," said Jonathan Linkous, executive director of ATA. "Using the robot and wireless broadband technology represents a potential expansion of care, not only in the U.S., but also overseas. The research being conducted at Ryder Trauma Center will help determine the possibilities of these technologies."

The WLIRC will receive an RP-7 robot and specially configured laptops with EV-DO Rev. A wireless cards for enhanced broadband connectivity, through which surgeons can connect to the robot wherever 3G wireless broadband is available. The project enables specialty physicians using the RP-7 robot to actively participate in the delivery of care in the Resuscitation Unit, Operating Rooms and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from a remote location. Once connected, the surgeons can autonomously drive the robot to patients' bedsides using controls on the laptops to offer consultation during an emergency, monitor patients and train nurses and
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