Starting with a few high-powered computers, 3-D modeling programs, and a NASA satellite, a group of researchers said it has developed a system for transmitting advanced medical technology to remote parts of the globe. Their experiment, Project Mission, uses a high-speed satellite connection to tap into imaging software used in treatments for cancer patients. The goal is that hospitals or clinics in remote places that can’t afford the expensive imaging software will still be able to use the technology. The technology won’t be widely available anytime soon. It will be a few years before global satellite networks designed for high-speed data connections get off the ground. But researchers working on the project - which used a NASA satellite designed for high-speed data communication - see potential for a lot of other applications. “The intent was really to start with a government satellite

as an experiment, and then move on to commercially available vehicles,” said David Yun, an engineering professor at University of Hawaii at Manoa and principal investigator for Project Mission. Yun is looking at ways that commercial satellite networks can run medical applications.http://www.proj-mission.org/welcome.html

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