CineGrid Medical

Operations of the Future?

The project CineGrid Medical was all about the medical applications of 4K: UltraHD quality moving images and sound, four times as sharp as normal HD material.

In CineGrid, a collaboration between SURFNET, Waag and other knowledge and cultural institutions and companies, the development and application of 4K in Europe was researched. This research showed that live streaming of 4K images was not (yet) possible, disabling many experiments. Since last year, however, there is a live streaming camera available.

4K in the operating room

With CineGrid Medical, SURFnet and Waag are working on practical use cases that show the power of 4K when combined with fast network connections. The domain for these use cases is the medical sector, and more specifically the operating room. The crystal clear picture and sound of 4K makes new innovations in this sector possible: larger-than live video conferencing, second opinions from a distance or extremely detailed scientific visualizations.

4K viewer

An important element in this project is to develop a prototype 4K viewer that makes it possible to see the footage on your own, normal screen. It enables people for instance to zoom in on the images, live, whilst maintaining sharpness. The viewer should replace the complex and expensive equipment that is now necessary and enable surgeons or students to remotely follow operations.