VBrick Systems Provides Toronto Medical Students With Examination 'Instant Replays,' Robust Video Capabilities.

WALLINGFORD, Conn. -- Toronto University Health Network's Helliwell Centre Harnesses Digital Video for Rigorous Medical Student Education; VBrick EtherneTV Provides Intuitive Video-on-Demand, Streaming Video Capabilities

VBrick Systems, Inc. (www.VBrick.com), an industry leader in affordable video over IP network solutions, today announced that the University of Toronto's medical teaching hospital, the University Health Network, is using VBrick's EtherneTV to empower its students to digitally record and critique their simulated patient exams, and seamlessly incorporate DVD-quality video into the classroom.

University Health Network's Paul B. Helliwell Centre for Medical Education is expanding traditional classroom and standardized (simulated) patient exams by enabling its students to record, replay, and critique these exams at their convenience. New digital video capabilities provide additional methods of teaching students important superior patient care nuances that are often difficult to replicate from medical texts and patient observations.

"The Helliwell Centre's new, robust video capabilities provide an added dimension to traditional classroom and training sessions," said Dr. John Bradley, director of the Wightman-Berris Academy at the University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital. "Students' new visibility into how they conduct exams provides an important tool to address patient care best practices and pinpoint areas for student improvement."

VBrick's EtherneTV Media Distribution System captures, delivers, stores, and manages video over IP networks, including the Internet. EtherneTV's web-based management portal centrally configures, secures, and controls video assets and operations. The video-on-demand servers store and distribute recorded video across the network anytime. EtherneTV supports MPEG-1, 2, 4, and Windows Media standards for high- and low-bandwidth network connections.

As part of the Helliwell Centre's renovation process, University Health Network officials selected EtherneTV based on performance, reliability, flexibility, and ease-of-use in 2004. University Health Network also did not want to manage the cumbersome VHS tape cataloging process or dedicate time to retrieve and deliver requested tapes to students or professors. EtherneTV empowers authorized users to record and access stored video from any of the Helliwell Centre's 18 computers.

"It was critical that we deploy a digital video solution that is easy to use and enables students and faculty to focus on education, not the underlying technology," said Bohdan Sadovy, manager, Audio-Visual Services at the University Health Network. "EtherneTV makes video intuitive, similar to getting on an elevator and pushing the button for your floor."

VBrick certified reseller Videoconference Solutions Inc. oversaw the design, configuration, and deployment of EtherneTV into the Helliwell Centre network. Videoconference Solutions and VBrick collaborated with University Health Network officials to deliver a digital video solution that supports education initiatives today while providing the scalability to fulfill future teaching and operational requirements. Importantly, the VBrick-based digital video solution addresses the University Health Network's budget requirements.

"Toronto's University Health Network continues its distinguished patient care and education by combining proven teaching practices with innovative digital video capabilities," said Rich Mavrogeanes, founder and CTO of VBrick Systems, Inc. "EtherneTV supports the University Health Network's dynamic teaching requirements with video on demand and video streaming capabilities that are available at users' fingertips."

Modeled to duplicate medical examination rooms, the Helliwell Centre's eight clinical skills centers feature touch-screen monitors that operate two live cameras that record students' textbook knowledge in a skills-based setting. Students position the cameras prior to standardized patient examinations. VBrick MPEG-2 encoder appliances record the examinations and save the digital video files to the EtherneTV Media Control Server, a central library of digital content that is available on demand to authorized users.

Students determine when and if their examinations are recorded. EtherneTV provides students with the flexibility to replay digitally videotaped examinations with or without archiving the content. In some cases, students archive select standardized patient examinations to show professors or present at class. Importantly, students in the exam rooms have full video authorization, ensuring that sessions are not recorded without user approval.

To address varying teaching environments, professors can stream real-time video from an exam room to any of Helliwell Centre's eight seminar rooms, enabling classroom students to view patient examinations remotely. Networked video seminar rooms provide students with a front row seat to demonstrations, eliminating traditionally cramped exam rooms that can limit some students' visibility of patient care.

About VBrick Systems, Inc.

VBrick Systems, Inc., creates and delivers innovative networked video solutions that enhance communications and reduce costs for organizations around the world. VBrick's broad range of video solutions provide the simplest and most reliable visual communications to businesses, educational institutions, and government agencies ranging in use from distributing news and information to distance-learning, training, and surveillance. VBrick has garnered numerous industry accolades, including the Deloitte Technology Fast 500, Connecticut Technology Fast 50, and the National Association of Broadcaster's (NAB) Award for Innovation in Media in the Content Delivery category. Based in Wallingford, Connecticut, USA, VBrick Systems' products are distributed through industry-leading value-added resellers, system integrators, and distributors. Find out more at www.VBrick.com.