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2000 — 2010
Cloud Computing
Virtual Reality As healthcare providers gear up to adopt IT-enabled services in a big way, cloud computing has much in store for both providers and patients
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he concept of computation being organised as a public utility, was till a few years back, only a far-fetched dream. By the turn of the millennium, with faster internet speeds and advanced computing equipment in place, cloud computing became a reality. Going further, cloud computing will offer enormous benefits to the healthcare industry including improved patient care and newer delivery models at lower costs. For smaller healthcare organisations, who do not have the required IT staff, cloud computing will offer cost-effective ways of managing information on a cloud and only pay providers for what is being used. The technology is equally beneficial for larger organisations. Max Healthcare, one of the best hospital chains in the country converted their entire IT infrastructure on a private multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) cloud running remotely from their vendor Dell’s data centre facility in Noida. As Max plans to start new facilities, a significant advantage that the cloud will offer is the capability to add more hospitals/ networks as and when required without any hassles. Ultimately, once the EHR system is in place, Max plans to have all patient data on the cloud. With so much happening in this field, the future has many opportunities in store as cloud computing penetrates deeper into the field of healthcare.
“Each patient will have his/her own URL, which will work through a cloud, and provide the entire clinical history”
Dr Pervez Ahmed CEO and Managing Director Max Healthcare
Robot-assisted Urological Surgery
Fiction Turned into Reality Indian surgeon Dr Prem Nath Dogra has performed robot-assisted urological surgery of a 50-year-old woman with cancer of the urethra and bladder
Fact File n This was first robot-assisted urological surgery in India. n Conducted at AIIMS n Earlier, this type of surgery was confined to the field of cardiology. n The robotic system used in such surgery costs $ one million
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t looks like a scene out of a Hollywood scifi flick. But fiction has turned into reality at AIIMS operation theatres. This was the country’s first robot-assisted urological surgery and conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. The surgery called the ‘Anterior Pelvic Exenteration’ involved removal of the urinary bladder, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, anterior vaginal wall, urethra and pelvic lymph nodes of a 50-year-old woman with cancer of the urethra and bladder. Earlier, this type of surgery was confined to the field of cardiology. However, the doctors soon discovered that robotic surgery was much more useful for other surgeries. The robot consists of a set of four arms, two to operate, one to hold the camera and the fourth one for assistance. These arms are mounted on a platform and are controlled by the doctor sitting at the control panel. The robotic arm is designed in such a way that it can reach the interior part of the organ curvature, which is not possible in the traditional surgery without damaging the normal tissues. The robotic system used in such surgery costs $ one million, however, experts say that with the introduction of indigenously manufactured systems, the cost will come down.
> www.ehealthonline.org > January 2011