Orpheus Medical Ltd. founder David Rainis supplied video on demand (VOD) technologies to Hot Telecommunication Systems Ltd. (TASE: HOT.B1) and 16 content providers worldwide. He once met a doctor who asked him whether he could develop recording and transmission technology for minimally invasive surgical procedures and endoscope diagnostics.
After the procedure or diagnosis, the pictures are gone for good, which is a pity. Doctors have few opportunities to rummage around patients' guts, and videos of procedure or diagnosis could help future diagnoses of a patient, or serve as teaching tools for new doctors, or as evidence in court. Doctors also love to share their work with their colleagues, discuss it, seek advice, or just to boast. Use of videos, in accordance with the conditions of medical confidentiality, of course, is another way to do this.
"When the doctor spoke with me, I realized that there was a market," Rainis told "Globes".
All images from X-Rays, CTs, MRIs, and other tools are kept at hospitals and health funds in picture archiving and communication system (PACS). Video clips are not saved. "Doctors told me that they have found all kinds of pirated solutions, such as taping surgical procedures on laptops. This is inefficient, unconscionable, and probably illegal," says Rainis.
The future is even more exciting: video imaging and distribution of medical content in real time can enable remote diagnosis and treatment through robotics. Already, some minimally invasive surgeries are carried out without the doctor touching the patient, but by guiding a robot to handle the procedure. "They don’t always wear sterile clothing, because there is no contact with the patient, but rebellious doctors will do this," says Rainis. Under these circumstances, the doctor does not even have to be in the same country as the patient for the procedure to succeed.
Orpheus Medical CEO Tovi Carmon previously held senior marketing positions at Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STRS) and paint maker Tambour Ltd. He says that the company's product, MedicVOD, can be hooked up with every medical video recording device to forward the images in real time or as a saved file to a database, with search and retrieval functions to any computer on the network.
Any such system must be more reliable than a regular VOD system for home entertainment. The image cannot be lost in the middle of a surgical procedure. Rainis says, "Because of the complexity, the system had to undergo regulatory approval for medical devices. We already have EU CE Mark, and we've filed with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)."
Rainis said that his VOD system was sold to Hot and its peers early on for $23 million. "A hospital thinks this is a joke. They can't pay more than $100,000 for a system that serves 20-40 treatment rooms. That is why Orpheus has to use technological innovations in video since the first VOD systems were developed, and add its own innovations and inventions to reach a price that is realistic for hospitals."
The MedicVOD system is operational and has been installed at 25 hospitals, mostly in Germany. Carmon says, "We have no background in medical devices, which turned out to be an advantage, because we came with a business approach. We're already seeing doctors using the system, especially for learning and discussions, such as consultancies with a more senior doctor. There was a case in which a 19-year old boy underwent stomach surgery and returned two days later. A review of the video showed that a capillary had apparently been damaged and was bleeding. It was decided to carry out a minimally invasive procedure, without opening the stomach. Without the video, the doctors would have probably had to open the abdomen just to see what had happened."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 17, 2013
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