Markets /markets Customer Profiles /markets/customerProfiles/default.asp Frimley Park Hospital /markets/customerProfiles/FrimleyPark/default.asp Frimley Park Hospital Frimley, Surrey, United Kingdom Healthcare /markets/customerProfiles/FrimleyPark/imgs/image_FrimleyConfRoom.jpg /markets/customerProfiles/FrimleyPark/imgs/image_FrimleyConfRoomControl.jpg /markets/customerProfiles/FrimleyPark/imgs/image_FrimleyLectureThControl.jpg /markets/customerProfiles/FrimleyPark/imgs/image_FrimleyLTheatre1.jpg Most UK hospitals have a Postgraduate Education Centre (PGEC) with seminar rooms and a larger lecture room for use by all hospital departments as well as local GPs and community medicine groups. At Frimley Park, the Regional Dean was approached to fund an integrated facility that could host all the local meetings but could also have high quality audio visual (AV) links to operating theatres and diagnostic departments. “As the control system and matrixes are modular and software controlled, the system is upgradeable and expandable in every way. This keeps the centre’s operating costs low and provides tremendous value for its users.” General surgeon and gastroenterologist Sukpal Singh and his colleague, the clinical tutor and radiologist, Alison Keighley felt strongly that Frimley Park would be enhanced as a centre for specialist training with these facilities. The PGEC manager Maureen Stephens was very much in favour as long as her administrative staff in the centre could cope with the technology. Video South Medical Television’s managing director, Alistair Holdoway proposed the scope of this leading edge project. Video South designed multi-media systems in each of four rooms in the PGEC, all integrated to a control and switching hub for links to the hospital and shared resources. This hub is also equipped with a Tandberg 6000 codec to allow conferences and AV presentations, as well as transmissions of procedures to remote locations and other institutions. The largest room is the 120-seat lecture theatre, which has been completely re-equipped. A custom-built hardwood presentation point on the podium presents an ergonomic work place for the permanent equipment available and includes a networked PC (with PACS), laptop point, and a visualizer. Everything is controlled using an AMX 10-inch touch panel fitted to the unit and the room uses three projectors on one large screen. This gives options for single screen presentation (at maximum size in centre position), dual side-by-side images and full dual screen videoconferencing. These arrays and sound and lighting are all launched automatically when a mode is selected on the panel linking to clinical room. The presenter selects ‘live links’ on the touch panel and is then requested to enter a passcode (to comply with patient confidentiality). The rooms on the system are displayed as buttons and their availability status is indicated by color (not in privacy mode). Selecting the room immediately configures the local AV system for display of video, brings external audio into the sound mix and takes a separate mix of certain microphones out to the chosen room. The central hub sets up two channels of video from the chosen room and routes them to a vision mixer (also under auto command from AMX), which displays picture-in-picture (PIP) onscreen, along with two way sound. In this configuration, the presenter can choose from six images in the clinical room. Any of these can be the main picture or the PIP. The PIP can be selected to any of the four corners and at three sizes. Video South feels that they have combined just the right configuration options that their clients need in a very accessible format. The other smaller rooms have exactly the same facilities presented on AMX 8.4 inch wireless Modero panels. This is a recent addition to Video South’s offer. Alistair explains, “With the earlier viewpoint touch panels, there was a risk of the unit never being in its docking unit to charge. This could lead to unreliability or even theft. Once the new 7.5 and 8.4 inch units were launched with the secure docking station, we realized that users only interested in simple AV (a laptop or PC presentation) would not need to remove the unit if we presented it in a viable location.” Alistair also discussed Video South’s panel and docking station installation process, “We build furniture for most rooms we equip including a steel wallbox, which holds the docking station at working height, keeping the panel at a 30 degree angle. The only users who would then release the panel and need to know the code, would be those hosting videoconferences and similar meetings and who regularly return it to the docking station when finished.” Panel installation utilizing this attention to detail has proved very effective and popular. In the conference room, the wireless panel is especially valuable as this is the room most used for videoconferencing. The room is equipped with twin high quality JVC DILA projectors and this system is used for intensive case conferencing both locally and with remote sites. The matrix switching within the room presents video and RGB sources to both projectors and the main hub where the codec is located. As well as the control of camera, source selection and videoconferencing, the NetLinx system has to be even more sophisticated in this type of room. The system has to cope with unpredicted events arising from the codec and sometimes instigated by users at the remote end. For instance, at a simple level the Modero touch panel has to display that the codec is “ringing” (remember the codec is remote in the hub room). It then offers the user to answer the call. On answering, the ceiling microphone channel to the codec must open up for this room and the projection units set to video inputs. The default is that each site sees camera views of each other. But then, if the remote party starts a PC presentation, the codec will output this at XGA on the RGB output via the RGB matrix. Now the NetLinx has to receive this status change from the codec and change scenario – the local RGB switch selects codec to projector two, which switches input to RGB. Quite a lot to do, and quickly. The remote party could end this at any time and then the complete scenario reverts to cameras on video inputs. It is even possible for either party to show themselves on camera and their PC on XGA so that the twin screens display them and their presentation in a duo video codec mode, which the touch panel must understand and configure local AV to suit. As all the control system and matrixes are modular and software controlled, the system is upgradeable and expandable in every way. This keeps the centre’s operating costs low and provides tremendous value for its users. The result of all this integration is one of the most advanced postgraduate centres in the UK utilizing progressive user operated visual communications.