How Pointmaker Annotation is Used in Healthcare AV

To address requirements in the healthcare AV market, Boeckeler Instruments manufactures the Pointmaker line of video annotation products that serve the telemedicine, surgical and distance learning fields as a tool to precisely focus viewer attention to details within video images during collaboration, teaching, or consultation. In healthcare AV installations, shared medical images are complex and they are often shared with meeting participants who are not in the same room. For example, surgeries may be shared with students outside the OR. Tumor boards may be viewing the same images but the participants could be a continent apart. Without the ability to circle a particular detail so that both the presenter and the viewer are focused on precisely the same aspect of an image, participants often do not have the confidence that they are looking at the same feature within an image. Especially for remote consultation, that confidence is a requirement. THE CHALLENGES: It is far easier to teach when the teacher and student are confident that they are looking at the same feature within a complex image. Boeckeler experts fully realized how vital annotation is in this market when the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the developer of a multi-national medical research tele-collaboration system, told them that when the Pointmaker video markers were installed the annotation technology fully unlocked the collaborative experience. The videoconference rooms are booked on a regular basis, and the video markers appear to be receiving a heavy workout. SOLUTION: Video annotation is best employed in healthcare applications when images are shared remotely, when the presenter and the image become separated from each other by walls or distance. Annotation products allow healthcare professionals and students to point out details or circle a key feature quickly and simply. Most people don't have time to learn complicated software with onscreen control buttons. The Pointmaker video marker is successful in AV installations like the NIH telemedicine network because a new user can operate the simple annotation system with only a few seconds of orientation. There is virtually no learning curve. Also, this solution offers the flexibility to draw over a variety of video signals, resolutions and scan rates that are generated by computers, cameras, video conferencing codecs, Blu-ray players and more.