The Cisco Tandberg Edge 85 MXP high-definition video conferencing solution was deployed in Russia, in the Valaam monastery’s recently opened telemedicine center.

The system connects the remote monastery with mainland hospitals so that local practitioners can rely on the experience of Russian and international experts, delivered via high-quality video. Valaam Monastery is located on Valaam Island in Russian Karelia, the largest island in Lake Ladoga, 22 kilometers (13.7 miles) from the mainland and 220 kilometers (137 miles) from St. Petersburg.

The Island of Valaam receives more than 110,000 visitors every year, and the new center is already providing teleconsultations for pilgrims and tourists as well as monks and other local patients. In the first two weeks of its operation, 20 sessions were organized in the outpatient medical room, including consultations with specialists in St. Petersburg and Moscow hospitals. In addition, the center carried out a multipoint three-party consultation with the G.I. Turner Orthopedic R&D Institute in St. Petersburg and the A.N. Burdenko Neurosurgery Institute of the Russian Medical Academy. During that session, the professors attended a 9-year-old disabled girl trying to regain her ability to walk.

Highlights / Key Facts:

- The Cisco Tandberg Edge 85 MXP system consists of a codec, a microphone and a PrecisionHD camera. It provides an excellent user experience with true-to-life quality for rich interaction and collaboration.
Specialists at the new telemedicine center plan to expand links with the nearby clinics of Karelia, where an advanced telemedicine network has been installed, as well as with additional hospitals in St. Petersburg, Moscow and other Russian cities.

- In the near future, there are also plans to set up a mobile telemedicine center at Valaam to offer medical care in remote areas, as some hermitages of the monastery are located on small islands of the Valaam archipelago.

- The mobile center will be based on a compact portable Cisco Tandberg Tactical system with a set of medical devices and a portable antenna.

- The project is supported by the Russian Telemedicine Association, the St. Andrew the First-Called Foundation, the Russian National Glory Center and Russian Railways, a national leader in telemedicine.