[link to www.hindustantimes.com]

Anesthesia now via video conferencing!

In a world first, doctors at McGill's Department of Anesthesia treated patients undergoing thyroid gland surgery in Italy remotely via videoconferencing from Montreal on August 30 (10). Dr. Thomas Hemmerling and his team used the approach, which is part of new technological advancements, known as
''Teleanesthesia''. And the new approach involves a team of engineers, researchers and anesthesiologists who will ultimately apply the drugs intravenously which are then controlled remotely through an automated system.

The feat comes as a result of an on-going scientific collaboration between Hemmerling's team and the Italian team of Dr. Zaouter of the Department of Anesthesia of Pisa University (Chairman Prof. Giunta