Axis delivers network video technology to VISICU for improved ICU Patient Care

Axis Communications today announced that VISICU Inc., a healthcare solutions company, has selected Axis video servers and audio modules to provide networked video and audio capabilities for its patented eICU® system. The installation, worth approximately USD 1.1 million, gives doctors and nurses access to real-time video and audio communications via a secure network connection.

Axis video servers and audio modules enable doctors and nurses specializing in intensive care medicine to communicate with Intensive Care Unit (ICU) caregivers and patients from a remote monitoring center, called an eICU facility. The eICU facility equips the eICU care team with software and hardware to monitor and care for hundreds of patients dispersed across a large geographical area. "The addition of Axis' technology enables doctors and nurses to have real-time interaction with on-site caregivers and patients," said Frank Sample, Chairman and CEO for VISICU. "The excellent video quality allows doctors to observe a patient's breathing pattern and perform detailed examinations. The eICU system, using Axis network video technology, is so successful that mortality in ICUs has been proven to be reduced by as much as 27 percent." Through use of eICU technology, one to two critical care doctors, or "intensivists", and five ICU nurses can care for more than 200 patients at one time, even if the patients are located in different hospitals across a wide area. In the ICU, the analog cameras and Axis audio modules are ceiling-mounted throughout the room and attached to an Axis video server. Using the Axis video servers and audio modules, intensivists can make "virtual rounds", viewing and speaking to patients and nurses right from their remote workstation. The audio modules add two-way communication to the real-time images, and all of the images and accompanying audio are accessible over a standard Web browser in the eICU facility.