Recording, cataloging, and archiving video for each surgical procedure created a tremendous burden for the Institute. The original process consisted of manually recording surgeries, first to VHS cassettes and later to DVDs. Continuing with this archival system would have forced the hospital to dedicate two rooms and from one to three full-time staff members to manage the storage. Retrieving footage was a time-consuming process and hindered the Institute’s ability to conduct research effectively. As Dr. Alok Shrivastava, MD, MCh (Urology) at VUI explained, “When developing a new procedure such as robotic prostatectomy, it’s critical to review past operations, to see what you did and how you can improve. With our old system of manually cataloging and archiving video, we simply could not research the way we wanted.”

 

The Vattikuti Urology Institute selected the ProxSys™ Media Asset Management solution from Focus Enhancements to streamline the tasks of recording and storing video for each robotic prostatectomy procedure performed at the hospital. ProxSys replaces the need to manually manage volumes of dispersed videotapes and enables terabytes of low- and high resolution video to be managed from a simple Web browser interface.

 

In the operating room, a team member uses a bar-code reader and enters key information, including date, patient’s name, and surgery type. Recorded footage is sent directly from their Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci® minimally invasive robotic surgical system to the ProxSys ingest workstation, where it is automatically indexed according to bar-coded metadata fields. Files are stored electronically in the ProxSys Media Server. A user-friendly, browser-based interface lets surgeons or other authorized individuals browse files or quickly locate a particular file based on patient’s name, surgery date, and so on.

 

Currently, VUI has one ingest station; however, they plan to add a second ingest station to support their other robotic operating room. The ProxSys Media Server can expand to support up to 10 ingest stations, and the system can be further scaled to meet any future needs of the Institute.

 

Using ProxSys, VUI has cut the amount of time and manpower needed to find a file by two-thirds. They no longer need to dedicate full-time employees to managing video archives. To date, the Institute has more than 100 patients’ recorded surgery video files stored in ProxSys, and the review process is greatly simplified. Surgeons can use ProxSys to review a particular step of the procedure across all patients. When a patient is in follow-up and exhibits unusually positive or negative recovery symptoms, surgeons can easily refer back to the procedure.

 

The ProxSys solution enriches VUI’s training and mentoring functions. With support for multiple access levels, each trainee is assigned basic-level access to ProxSys. Dr. Shrivastava explained, “Now I can sit at my desk with everything right in front of me. In seconds, I can distribute select cases to trainee surgeons for review.”

 

Dr. Shrivastava envisions a larger role for ProxSys within the VUI arena. Dr. Shrivastava also hopes to expand the role of ProxSys to enable peer-to-peer collaboration with other hospitals. The ProxSys networking capability allows users to browse and view clips from any location over the Internet. Dr. Shrivastava hopes to provide other institutions with limited (HIPAA-compliant) access to procedure videos for training and educational purposes. The Vattikuti Urology Institute aims to accelerate the development and adoption of robotic surgical procedures across the medical.

The Vattikuti Urology Institute (VUI) at the Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan is changing the way urological diseases are treated. Consistently ranked among the top centers in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report, VUI retains nearly 20 board-certified urologists and treats more than 50,000 patients annually. At VUI, patients have access to the nation’s most innovative technology and surgical techniques. The Institute’s director, Dr. Mani Menon, MD FACS, developed the Vattikuti Institute Prostatectomy (VIP), a method of robotic prostatectomy that results in faster recovery times, fewer side effects, and less internal scarring. Since the Institute’s first case in 2001, this procedure has received spectacular acceptance. In 2001, less than 100 cases were done worldwide (90 percent of them were done at Henry Ford). In 2006, it is estimated that more than 30,000 patients will undergo the VIP robotic prostatectomy, with minor modifications. Recently the Institute’s team, led by Dr. Menon, has developed robotic procedures for treatment of renal cancers and stone disease.

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The ProxSys family provides comprehensive media asset management solutions for customers who need to organize rich multi-format media. ProxSys is designed for medium- and large-scale deployments in video driven applications, including broadcast archive and play-out, TV monitoring, and medical, sports analysis, education, and training video archiving. ProxSys replaces the need to manually manage volumes of dispersed videotapes, CD-ROMs, audio CDs, and digital images within the organization, creating a seamless workflow environment. ProxSys manages terabytes of low- and high-resolution video, audio, images, documents, and data from a simple Web browser interface, allowing quick preview and access to clips from any location over the Internet.