(E3 99) Everest Extreme Expedition Begins Mission To Establish Telemedicine Clinic And Research Lab On Rooftop Of The World

Research To Enhance Quality of Medical Care in Space Exploration and Anywhere on Earth

NEW YORK, April 13, 1999 - Extending the frontiers of telemedicine applications, a unique 15-Member health-science team of climber-physicians, ranging in age from 23 to 60, embarks upon a six-week scientific and humanitarian expedition to the rooftop of the world - Mount Everest on April 23, 1999. Their mission is to study the body's response to extreme environments - and push the limits of equipment and technology that will accompany astronauts to the International Space Station and can enhance the quality of medical care anywhere on Earth. Against the backdrop of the most hostile, demanding environment, the (E3 99) Everest Extreme Expedition '99 team will be equipped with some of the latest medical technologies, as well as access to leading medical experts in the United States.

Organized by the Yale/NASA Commercial Space Center for Medical Informatics and Technology Applications (CSC/MITA), Millennium Healthcare Solutions, Inc., and The Explorers Club, with participation by the National Institutes of Health, E3 99 will operate at Everest Base Camp at 17,500 feet and higher, studying the effects of living and working in an extreme environment, focusing on the body's response to high altitude and low-oxygen conditions. The team will also research visual acuity experienced by climbers and the native Sherpas.

"Most of the devices tested on this expedition were not available until recently. However, the coming decade will see adaptations of similar devices in rural areas and home care delivery through hospitals and EMT teams. The most sophisticated diagnostic care should be available when and where needed," said Dr. Ronald C. Merrell, M.D., F.A.C.S., Lampman Professor of Surgery and Chairman Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine. "Using these devices, our goal is to research new insights into medical conditions such as coronary artery disease, stroke and kidney function, among others, all of which affect the quality of life at any altitude. The high-stress, low-oxygen environment of Everest presents a unique laboratory and proving ground to research how the human circulatory system redistributes blood flow to allow more oxygenated blood to the brain."

Providing Medical Support with Advanced Technology
In conjunction with the high altitude and high-stress physiological experimentation, a functioning telemedicine clinic will assess the new medical technologies. Just like any other U.S. hospital, a medical support team at Yale, will gather for "morning rounds," to evaluate medical information, such as 3-D ultrasound images of the patient, cardiac output and vital signs that are transmitted from Everest Base Camp via satellite to Yale.

Devices such as the Biosound Esoate color-flow Doppler ultrasound, Echotech 3D sonography system, and tran-mucosal Cytometrics microscope, will document and map the body's circulatory response and adaptation to long-term extreme conditions both macroscopically and microsopically, and an OLYMPUS digital microscope will identify and transmit images of blood cells. OLYMPUS America, Inc., will donate one of the clinical microscopes used on the expedition to the Himalayan Health Organization. Bio-pack personal status monitors will transmit temperature, heart rate, breathing and positioning status of the climbers in near real-time via satellite to physicians at Base Camp and to the Yale University School of Medicine. Telemedicine Communications Specialist Jim Bruton of Totally Remote Communications is providing the satellite telecommunications equipment for the expedition.

"The procedures and technologies tested on this expedition have enormous potential for enhancing the quality of medical care in space exploration, to patients in remote locations and to the homes of patients suffering from chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, emphysema, among others," said Jim Tuchi, President and CEO of Millennium Healthcare Solutions, Inc. "We are confident that the technologies and medical protocols performed during E3 99 will operate in Space or anywhere on Earth."

Educational Outreach
An integral part of the expedition includes live interactive videoconference sessions between Mount Everest and school children, parents, and science teachers at various locations across the U.S. and Canada. OLYMPUS America, Inc. is hosting two evening events at its corporate auditorium in Melville, Long Island in mid-May, with participation by students from local area high schools. Schools in other cities will also participate via videoconferencing, and the event will be simulcast to select universities throughout the country over Internet2. Professors at Dowling College in Long Island are working with OLYMPUS in preparing supplemental educational materials to provide students with additional background information and insights into the conditions of working and living at high-altitude, as well as Nepal and its culture.

"The average age, today, of the flight team that will eventually go to Mars is thirteen," said Dan Biondi, senior vice president, Scientific Equipment Division of OLYMPUS America, Inc. "As a sponsor of E3 99, we feel it is not merely necessary but our duty to add an educational component to foster the same kind of scientific curiosity and inquisitiveness in America's youth that is at the very root of this health-science expedition." The E3 99 team is scheduled to arrive in Katmandu by April 25 and, weather permitting, plans to depart for Lukla Village on April 27. From there, the team will travel on foot using porters and yaks to transport the expedition equipment up to Everest Base Camp. Several medical clinics are scheduled along the way to gather the most extensive data ever collected regarding the human circulatory response to hypoxia. During these clinics the team will also treat any of the natives in need of medical care. Expedition Leader, Scott Hamilton, is accompanied by Dr. Ken Kamler, Chief High Altitude Physician; Dr. Christian Macedonia, Director of Medical Research; Dr. Nick Craig, a surgeon from St. Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Port Jefferson, NY; Daniel Biondi, Digital Imagery Specialist from OLYMPUS America, Inc.; Jim Williams, Climbing Leader, as well as a team of doctors, scientists and technicians from the Yale University School of Medicine.

This year's expedition builds upon the success of the (E3 98) Everest Extreme Expedition '98, which provided the first-ever telemedicine link between Mt. Everest and the United States. Analyzing scientific data received from various types of medical devices, E3 98 was able to paint a completely new picture of man's adaptation to altitude that may explain what happens to climbers in extreme conditions.

Video clips from Mt. Everest will be recorded and edited for viewing at www.everestextreme99.org, the E3 99 Web Site, along with other medical and non-medical data regarding the climb. Medical data, global positioning status and pictorial archives will be sent to Yale University School of Medicine to be processed before posting to the web site.

Financial and in-kind support for E3 99 and its educational outreach is coming from a wide range of private and public partnerships, with sponsors including Millennium Healthcare Solutions, Inc., OLYMPUS America, Inc., Saint Charles Hospital and Rehabilitation Center, the Association of the United States Army, Lucent Technologies, Cisco Systems, Becton Dickinson, Compaq Computers Corporation, DHS Systems LLC, MOUNTAINSMITH, Nestle Clinical Nutrition, Kifaru International, PowerBar, Inc., and Camelbak, among others.