The amphitheater contains student desks equipped with headsets and mics. Crestron, video-conferencing systems, and a video wall by Toshiba facilitate real-time seminars, lectures, and meetings.

Telehealth Institute Reinvents The Seminar

The Institute for Advanced Telemedicine and Telehealth (T-Health) was created to address the shortage of health care professionals, and to develop facilities for nextgeneration health care education. The main objective was to provide opportunities for doctors from different medical disciplines to exchange information quickly and easily.

T-Health is part of the Arizona Telemedicine Program (ATP) operated by the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix. “It’s literally a new method for teaching medical students. It’s a novel approach,” says Jim Mauger, director of Engineering at Phoenix-based systems integrator, Audio Video Resources (AVR). AVR was the main integrator on this project.

AVR says that the graphical user interface is the “heart of the room’s functionality.”

THE BRAINS OF THE OPERATIONS
The 1600-square-foot main amphitheater contains 17 student desks equipped with a headset and microphone. Using Tandberg video-conferencing systems, and a video wall consisting of twelve 50-inch Toshiba DLP video wall displays, the virtual teleconferencing hub enables instructors, working professionals and students to participate in real-time interactive seminars, lectures, and meetings.

The project features Crestron control systems and touch panels, implemented to integrate and control the distribution of audio, video, and videoconferencing systems. Models include the CENNVS100, CNX-B4, PRO2, TPS-12, TPS-12G-QM-L, and TPS-4L. AVR says that the graphical user interface is the “heart of the room’s functionality.”

Crestron control systems and touch panels link the AV in the facility.”

At T-Health, doctoral students have participated in custom-tailored medical training programs via multiple “stacked” videoconferences. AVR utilized quad video processors to bring multiple participants together in a virtual conference environment, allowing students in the main theater to participate instantly without the need of a videoconferencing bridge. They also avoided the inherent lag time when hanging up or dialing calls.

“The agony and ecstasy of innovation is a cycle with which I’m very well acquainted. Personally, I like the frenzy of it all,” Dr. Ronald Weinstein, director and co-founder of ATP and an international authority on telemedicine, told the press. “The world is taking notice of THealth, thanks to the continued partnership of UA and AVR in this collaboration.”