A short release on what doesn’t seem to be a new AMD product: AGNES, an acronym for Aggregated Network Services, described as a ‘telemedicine device aggregation appliance’, is a web and Windows based program that provides imaging, sound and data transmission on bandwidth as low as 64 kbs (this editor [Donna] had to look it up–DSL speed). It seems to be a lower-cost alternative to traditional video conferencing which requires a much higher bandwidth and is the basis for most telemedicine. But one would have appreciated a newsier, meatier release. What is AGNES (AMD)? [Read first comment on clarifying what AGNES is, which should have been 1) part of the release and 2) a great idea for a demo–Donna}
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What is AGNES?
AGNES is actually many things but there is one thing it is not. Namely, AGNES is not a video conferencing system. AMD leaves videoconferencing to those who do it well like Polycom, Cisco, Tandberg, et al.
AGNES is an alternative way to accomplish clinical telemedicine. Prior to AGNES, all clinical telemedicine was reliant on medical devices being integrated into the videoconferencing codec. Millions of people have been treated using this method but as with any technology it has it downsides.
AGNES is a product that allows the medical devices’ separation from the ‘in-band’ codec based model and creates an ad-hoc, on-demand medical device network of its own. Nurses and doctors consume device data directly from the device via the web browsers on their desktop PC’s.
The status and availability of the devices are revealed via a Web 2.0 architected Web Services model. All communications between clinician and the device are peer-to-peer. For security, quality and speed reasons, no relay servers are involved at all.
AGNES’ embedded intelligence can deliver high quality imagery and device data at bandwidths ranging from 1 Mb to 64kb.
The optional AGNES Capture Station module allows a clinician to capture, manage and save any information from the devices directly into any EMR.