The organization has operated the world’s only airborne ophthalmic training facility—the Flying Eye Hospital (FEH)— since 1982, which serves as both a training facility and surgical center. The FEH is staffed by 22 Orbis professionals and to date, has visited 77 countries and conducted some 279 training and service programs in 154 cities.

I first volunteered in 2006 as an AV specialist to serve on board the FEH in the Africa programs and then joined the FEH team fulltime in 2010. In my current role, I’m responsible for operation and maintenance of all video and audio systems that are used in the aircraft.

VIDEO IS VITAL TO THE MISSION
Eye surgery is very precise and the operating theater in the FEH is a small area in which to work. The Telemetrics camera control system is a natural for such “close” environments, allowing me follow the surgeon’s movements closely without being in the way. Also, while the surgeon watches the monitor, he or she can ask me to provide different angles or views to help local medical professionals watching the procedure on a monitor. The Telemetrics system responds quickly and quietly without disturbing the doctor or the trainees. We’ve found it to be one of the best pieces of technology for our teaching application.

This year, Orbis will introduce its next-generation FEH, an MD-10 aircraft that will replace the current DC-10. Orbis has used a Telemetrics camera control system for the past 18 years and will continue to do so in the new aircraft based on the equipment’s good track record. During the designing and planning phase for the MD-10 facility, I worked closely with the AV integrator and Telemetrics on the new system, and while the CTS-H track system will be a bit larger, we’re still going to use the same camera, pan/tilt unit and controller.

COMPLETE CAMERA CONTROL
The new MD-10 operating theater will be equipped with an overhead Telemetrics CTS-H track system and HDSC-1 robotics camera sidemounted on a PT-CP-S4 pan/tilt unit. From the AV room, I can remotely control the camera using the Telemetrics RCP Desktop Touchscreen Control Panel. I also have control of specific camera features that allow me to fine tune the images and make adjustments to pan/tilt/zoom and speed parameters. Video of the procedure is transmitted to the classroom in the front of the plane for instructional viewing and attendees receive a recorded copy of the video for later study. We can also stream live and/or recorded video to off-site locations.

Our mission in traveling to all of these locations is to train and educate local medical personnel in the continuing fight against avoidable blindness. The Telemetrics camera control system installed in our FEH continues to make these efforts that much easier to accomplish.

Gangadhar Jalli has worked in the central audio visual unit of L V Prasad Eye Institute and has experience in editing instructional, surgical and patient information videos. He may be contacted at gangadhar.jalli@orbis.org

For additional information, contact Telemetrics at 201-848-9818 or visit www.telemetricsinc.com.