I first heard about this while watching Daily Planet on Friday where they talked to the doctors involved. On August 30, 2010 the first transcontinental Anesthetic took place. Dr. Thomas Hemmerling and his team at Mc Gill's department of Anesthetic in Montreal used a program called 'Teleseanesthesia' to administer anesthetic to a patient in Pisa Italy who was undergoing thyroid gland surgery. This program controls the drugs that are being administered intravenously remotely. Even if there is internet failure the automated system continues administering the drugs. The program displays video cameras of the patient and also shows breathing rate, heart rate and other vital signs. Before the surgery takes place there is also video conferencing discussing the patient's airways and medical history. This program is still in the works and much more testing needs to be done. Dr. Hemmerling's team from McGill University is working with Dr. Zaouter and his team from the Department of Anesthesia of Pisa University. On Daily Planet they discussed possible application of this new technology one of these was in Africa where anesthesia is performed by nurses who aren't qualified (of course these places would have to have internet connectivity). Many remote places would also benefit from this technology such as northern Canada or other places where there are not many medical personnel. I have heard about heart surgery being performed remotely, but this remote anesthesia is less risky and it wouldn't be as much of a problem if there was internet failure, because of the automated system taking over.
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