Abstract
Background: Telesurgery was performed with ground vs. satellite networks, and differing satellite bandwidths. Methods: The networks were compared during internal mammary artery (LIMA) dissection in pigs (n = 8). Length of LIMA dissected and surgical quality (five-point scale) were recorded. Also, satellite bandwidth was decreased (n = 7) to determine a limit for telesurgery. Results: No significant differences existed in LIMA dissection during the ground (4.3 ± 0.5 cm) and satellite phases (5.4 ± 1.1 cm; p > 0.05) or in quality of surgery, although latency on satellite was 10 times greater (55 vs. 600 ms). With decreasing satellite bandwidth, surgery was not possible below 3 Mb/s, and quality of surgery was significantly decreased comparing 9 Mb/s (4.38 ± 0.66/5) to 3Mb/s (4.10 ± 0.80/5; p < 0.05). Conclusions: Satellite communication is a viable telesurgical modality. Satellite bandwidth should be above 5 Mb/s during telesurgery if used primarily or as back-up.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 111-116 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2007 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
- Biophysics
- Computer Science Applications