ESA pilot satellite telemedicine
- 6 December 2007
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The European Space Agency has successfully completed a pilot run of its Satellite for Health Early Warning and for Epidemiology (SAFE) telemedicine project.
The aim of the SAFE project is to provide a means of satellite assistance, from remote locations, in the event of natural disasters and for post-crisis management.
In order to pilot the system, the ESA’s health team flew out to the Greek island of Crete to see if the system works.
An ESA spokesperson told E-Health Europe: “What we did was create a hypothetical natural disaster where an earthquake had just shaken the Greek island. Damage was widespread and all conventional, terrestrial communications was destroyed. Only satellite technology located at a higher altitude was still working, which can be controlled from any satellite centre not destroyed by the quake.”
Health workers gathered civilians and took them to a dedicated control centre where they could communicate with doctors in mainland Greece, help to treat the patients and summon help.
The spokesperson added: “Thanks to the satellite, specialised doctors – although far away, either in Heraklion or even in Athens – could immediately help the teams on site. The first help provided was to understand the nature of the epidemic and treat the patients when the first symptoms were exhibited.
“Secondly, assistance was provided to determine the origin of the epidemic and take the necessary measures to stop the problem from spreading.”
A dialogue was set up with voice and video between the teams on site and the centres for control and coordination, which allowed a quick assessment of the means needed to set up and facilitate the process of intervention.
On the second day after the earthquake and its emergency management by local authorities, a scenario involving an epidemiological threat was staged.
Analysis of victims sheltered in a camp showed that there was a threat of gastroenteritis and, using the satellite telemedicine, patients were able to control their suffering until help arrived.
The ESA spokesperson said: “The demonstration showed that space can contribute to faster and more efficient rescue and assistance in the field, taking advantage of the expertise of specialists from distant locations and offering the possibility of raising alerts in the event of epidemiological risks.”
The project was co-funded by ESA and coordinated by MEDES (Institut de Médecine et de Physiologie Spatiales), in partnership notably with the Greek Foundation for Research and Technology (FORTH).
The ESA say that the SAFE pilot project is a good illustration of the added value of satellites – with the service provided by space answering the needs on the ground. More research will now be done into the system to see how effective it can be for areas more remote than Crete.
To view a video of the pilot, visit www.esa.int.
Links
FORTH: Institute of Computer Science
Joe Fernandez
