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JSAT, College to Test Satellite-Based Medical Diagnosis System

Posted on: Monday, 8 May 2006, 12:04 CDT

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

May 6--TOKYO -- Communications satellite operator JSAT Corp. will test a satellite-based medical diagnosis and consultation system in mid-May in cooperation with Asahikawa Medical College in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, JSAT officials said Saturday.

The test will represent the first attempt in Japan to provide medical services to residents in sparsely populated rural areas such as islands and mountainous regions on the strength of a satellite, the officials said.

The satellite-based medical service would be significant, as it has been hard to build up diagnostic systems using optical fiber or ADSL networks for such areas due to the costs involved.

Professor Akitoshi Yoshida, an ophthalmology expert at the university, said, "If our test proves successful, we will propose providing similar satellite-based services on a nationwide basis to the government." Under the test, he will diagnose and provide medical instructions to patients at a hospital on Rishiri Island, 200 kilometers from Asahikawa and off the northwestern coastline of Hokkaido, while examining images to be beamed via the company's JCSAT communications satellite.

JSAT will also test beaming and receiving images of body parts affected by illnesses and X-ray photographs of them, the officials said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

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Source: Kyodo News International, Tokyo

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