Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a type of treatment used to speed up healing of carbon monoxide poisoning, gangrene, stubborn wounds, and infections in which tissues are starved for oxygen. The treatment involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized environment. It is also a treatment for decompression sickness, a potential risk of scuba diving.
In hyperbaric oxygen chambers, the air pressure is increased two to three times higher than normal air pressure. Under these conditions, the lungs can gather much more oxygen than would be possible breathing pure oxygen at normal air pressure.
When the blood carries this extra oxygen throughout the body, it helps fight bacteria and stimulates the release of substances called growth factors and stem cells, which promotes healing.
The Problem
For Vancouver Coastal Health, being able to offer this course of treatments is important for patients in many ways and several scenarios. Its existing chamber needed modernizing and the delivery of video and audio content was needed to be brought up to speed with the current technology levels.
With patients depending on this life saving technology, the goal was to improve the quality of the video and audio being presented to patients, simplify the ability for redirection of video and audio, increase the reliability of distributing the media and allow the video to be interconnected with other devices (e.g. computer based custom software).
The benefit of these improvements to the end users was expected to improve two aspects:
- For patients: Improved video quality and multiple choices for content delivered into an environment that had technological challenges of transmitting legacy video formats. The increased quality, variety and number of display points will provide an opportunity to reduce the stress of the treatment modality that the patients were undergoing.
- For the clinic: Improved video quality and the ability to interface to data acquisition systems will create an opportunity to communicate procedural and environmental information for clarity and confidence in the operational aspects of the treatment sequence.
The Challenge of the Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber
There were a couple of challenges to face before and during the project that integrator and technology provider had to overcome— The Vancouver, B.C. integrator, Amplified Audio Visual Limited, needed to find out whether the products that would be chosen for the install would operate within the pressurized chamber. The cabling would have to carry low voltage power, audio and video signals to displays inside the chamber, so the transmission of the cabling needed to be rock solid.
The Solution
With testing from the engineers at Amplified Audio Visual Limited and with technical input from the team at WyreStorm, the NetworkHD AV over IP solution was chosen. With its 4K HDR video distribution, multichannel audio support, low latency, RS-232, IR and compatibility with the third party control, the NetworkHD 400 Series solution was the perfect fit for this scenario.
The final deployment consisted of 11 WyreStorm NetworkHD 400 encoders which were used to distribute High Definition content from cable boxes, computers, and DVD players to 14 NetworkHD decoders connected to multiple Northern Video and Tote Vision displays. For control of the whole solution, a third party processor with a 10” touch panel was chosen.
The Impact
“As an integrator, we chose Wyrestorm because we have had success with this product in the past and it suited the video and audio transmission with a seamless and efficient user experience. WyreStorm also provided the support in a timely manner, which exactly what was needed in order for this type of project to be completed successfully” says Steven Moxness, president of Amplified Audio Visual Limited.
A spokesperson from the client also commented, “The project met and exceeded the objectives that were expected of this deployment. The solution overcame the technological limitations in traditional video format transmission. The Integrators provided a platform to communicate clarity of operational information that reduced stress to end users with current video quality and improving viewpoints.”
To view photos of the audio visual solutions used in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber, click on “view slideshow” in the upper right corner.
