Case Study: From ISE to Centrepiece – LS-410 at Thomas More Simulation Centre

Dear ADENA Partners, ISE is only about three weeks away, making it very fitting to share a case study that was made possible by this great show. After testing the solution with our local distributor, Sanel, Thomas More University in Belgium chose AREC to capture, record, stream, and save medical training sessions and mock operations conducted in the Lier campus simulation centre of this prestigious university.

Thomas More University is the largest university in Flanders, Belgium, with 12 campuses spread across seven cities in the region. More than 20,000 students are enrolled in 61 academic programmes, covering business, technology, sciences, healthcare, and other areas. It is well known that effective tuition of that many students requires the use of professional and reliable lecture capture equipment. To this end, the university staff attends various education and AV tradeshows seeking innovative technologies that can elevate teaching and learning to the next level.

During one such exploration of new technologies at the ISE, university representatives discovered AREC Lecture Capture systems. Finding the devices to be a perfect match for their needs — thanks to features like immediate playback, straightforward controls, and full support for network audio and video sources — Thomas More University, with the support of our distributor Sanel, decided to test the LS-410 Media Station in their simulation centre on the Lier campus.

The station was installed in the control room of the simulation centre and became its centrepiece, effortlessly recording and streaming complete training and learning sessions. It used RGB Link and Axis PTZ cameras, as well as a Susie 2000 nursing care simulator as video sources, and Shure MXA 910 and Audio-Technica ATND8677a microphones via Dante for audio. The university staff found the unit very easy to control thanks to its built-in Graphical User Interface (GUI), which provided access to all key functions of the device at the touch of a button. For instance, using the GUI, the staff managed recording and streaming processes, switched layouts, overlays, and backgrounds, selected sources to display on the station’s local outputs, controlled PTZ cameras, and used other functions. The station displayed the GUI through one of its four physical video outputs connected to an operator’s screen, while looping the nursing care simulator and camera feeds to displays in the simulation room and other locations.

The university also recognised the LS-410’s ability to record each video source individually and as part of a mixed video to be a major improvement over previous systems, providing all the resources needed to perform post-editing or sharing of high-resolution single-camera recordings. This was made even more impressive by another defining feature of AREC Media Stations — their ability to immediately play back any of these recorded video files. This greatly streamlined and accelerated the teaching process in the simulation centre, as with this feature, the lecturers were able to walk students through intricacies of recorded procedures whenever required.

With the LS-410 passing every test with flying colours, Thomas More University decided to adopt the system as a permanent solution for its other simulation rooms. Commenting on the experience of running the simulation centre with the LS-410, Nico Beckers from the university’s AV Services said: ‘The whole thing is already a lot tighter, more user-friendly and more complete as a solution than before.’

Is your university seeking to upgrade its lecture capture solution? Visit us at ISE 2025 at booth 2U130, book a personal demonstration, or contact us at www.a-dena.com. We would be delighted to answer your questions and provide assistance.

Click to book a personal demonstration

Case Study: Operator’s Dream, Student’s Saviour — AREC In the University of Latvia

Dear ADENA Partners, this month’s case study highlights the University of Latvia’s P. Stradiņš Medical College experience with AREC! The university captures, controls, records, and displays all medical simulations taking place in their medical school using our devices. Created by our partner Boon, AREC delivers easy-to-use yet functionally advanced lecture capture and control solution.

The University of Latvia (known as Latvijas Universitāte in Latvian) is a well-known institution in the country. It is simultaneously the third-oldest and one of the top three universities in Latvia, offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees to over 14,000 students every year. The university is divided into 13 faculties, which are further divided into numerous departments, chambers, centres, and laboratories. Some of these faculties have been using AREC Media Stations for years to record and stream lectures, but, until recently, not the P. Stradiņš Medical College. Its medical simulation centre, in particular, did not have any AV systems in place.

To prepare for the new academic year and improve the student experience, the university decided to address this by equipping the medical college’s simulation centre with professional lecture capture systems and cameras. There were several technical requirements for the new equipment:

• Capture three PTZ network cameras and a computer running medical software for the simulation doll.

• Ability to display all video sources in a mixed video layout in the auditorium (room 304) and the three simulation rooms (301, 303, 305).

• Provide two-way communication between all rooms.

• Ensure minimal delay in audio and video transmission, as with defibrillators and other medical devices in the room, every moment counts, and instructions must be delivered instantly.

• Provide a way to easily control the cameras’ PTZ movement, video source switching, audio control, and other media tasks.

• Record every lecture and have an option to stream them to YouTube easily.

  
  

The university was analysing different systems available on the market until our partner Boon arranged a three-way video demonstration. During the call, we showcased how intuitive and capable AREC solutions are, delivering exactly what the customer asked for and more. The final design consisted of four key elements that we go through below.

LS-410 Media Station

The AREC LS-410, our 4-channel Media Station and the foundation of the proposed system, met most of the requirements on its own. It captured the computer, network cameras, and ClearOne audio system. The station combined these AV sources into layouts, and thanks to its 1 DP and 3 HDMI video outputs, simultaneously displayed them in every room. The station records these video sources together and separately, and streams the combined video to YouTube. The LS-410’s internal 2 TB drive ensures that the university can store months’ worth of lectures on the device itself, but it also can automatically back up videos to USB drives, FTP/SFTP servers, VCMS platforms, and Google Drive, making it very simple for the university to manage the recordings.

DS-AC1 Control Station

A-TS02 RADA Touch

The station and cameras were controlled by the DS-AC1 Control Station, a device that combines the functions of video switchers, streamers, and control panels. Through the DS-AC1, a technician can operate each camera’s PTZ using an inbuilt digital joystick, preview and control the LS-410 through an integrated interface, monitor every camera on a local display, and control features of other devices, such as the ClearOne audio processor. The device’s control interface is output to a RADA Touch — our compact touch display, perfectly suited for monitoring and controlling operations.

The RADA A-TC04 NoirCam were chosen as cameras — 4K PTZ network cameras with 25x optical zoom and multiple output options. They deliver pristine images at the highest magnification, capturing every detail of an ongoing simulation. The cameras also feature AI auto-tracking which can be turned on to ensure that the operating student is always in the shot.

A-TC04 NoirCam AI Tracking Cam

The University of Latvia has already started using the system and has praised it greatly for its convenience and simplicity of use. Is your university looking to create the perfect simulation centre solution? Contact us at www.a-dena.com, and we will be happy to demonstrate what AREC can do!

Case Study: Award-Winning Javierian Simulation Centre - Powered by AREC & Integracion AV

Dear ADENA Partners, this month we have an exciting case study from the Pontifical Javieriana University in Colombia. Our partner, Integracion AV, renovated the simulation centre for medical education at the university in a project which won the Cala Awards 2024. By equipping the entire floor with AREC, Shure, Crestron, Liberty, Netgear, and other devices, the case demonstrates how simple it is to create sophisticated yet intuitive solutions for the real-time study and simulation of medical procedures using our products.

The Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Pontifical Javieriana University) is a prestigious private university based in Bogotá, Colombia. It is one of the oldest and most renowned universities in the country, consisting of 18 schools with 61 departments and offering 242 academic programmes across a variety of disciplines. Among its alumni are a former President of Colombia, government ministers from across Latin America, producers, Olympic champions, scientists, and many more.

One of the university’s strongest schools is the Faculty of Medicine. It is a leading medical school based on the main campus, with most practical training taking place at the Hospital Universitario San Ignacio. The school is renowned for its clinical simulation centre, one of the first of its kind in Colombia. Originally founded in 2007, the centre was first equipped with traditional simulation laboratories. However, this changed recently when the school decided to renovate the centre with modern educational tools to meet current global training needs. Thanks to the efforts of our partner, Integracion AV, they secured the best solution available. 

The clinical simulation centre occupies an entire floor and is divided into six sections: multiple doctors’ offices and training rooms, critical care units, a monitoring and control room, patient observation rooms and surgery rooms. The university wanted to provide a way to conduct operations in every room simultaneously, record them for later study, while ensuring it is simple to monitor the processes and have two-way live communication between senior doctors and students.

Each doctor’s office was equipped with the same solution with the AREC LS-410 at its core — a 4-channel Media Station with 4K, Dante, NDI|HX support, and many other features. All stations were installed in a server room and connected to the same network using Netgear GSM4248 PX-100NAS switches. The LS-410 effectively combined images from each video source installed in the offices, starting with the RADA A-TC02 OnyxCam AI Tracking camera and an AREC CI-22H PTZ camera via NDI and ONVIF protocols. While the OnyxCams were installed to track doctors in these rooms, the CI-22H cameras were used to show specific presets, such as the examination table with a practice mannequin, a patient's chair, and other areas of the rooms. Computers in each room were connected to the LS-410 stations using Liberty IPEX 5001 encoders and 5002 decoders, safely delivering their audio and video via the network. Conversation audio was captured Shure MXA-710 ceiling microphones and sent to the LS-410 via Dante, while a Crestron DSP-1281 with Fohhn MA-4.100 were used to output audio commentary coming from the supervising instructors, along with computer audio, through Audac CENA speakers. The combined audio and video, as well as each individual video source, was recorded by the LS-410 and immediately available for review by the university, greatly simplifying the media production process.

LS-410 Media Station

A-TC02 OnyxCam AI Tracking

CI-22H PTZ Camera

Other training rooms, critical care units, surgery rooms, and patient observation rooms followed the same basic solution concept but added additional features. For instance, each training room included an extra Liberty decoder, capable of displaying computers, vital signs monitors, and other sources on local LG displays. Each critical care unit used four cameras and two Media Stations, with one of the stations displayed on a local screen. In patient observation rooms, even more cameras, media stations, and other equipment — including a DS-X01 Media Decoder — were used to accommodate the needs of multiple concurrent simulations.

DS-X01 Media Decoder

DS-X09 Media Decoder

In addition to cameras and media stations, surgery rooms featured DS-X09 Media Decoders. These devices displayed multiple network cameras and IP sources in customisable layouts, helping doctors evaluate operations from different angles. Crestron control panels were also installed, allowing them to easily manage all AREC and other devices in the room from a single touch panel.

Lastly, the monitoring and control room, staffed by instructors and senior doctors, was equipped primarily with numerous DS-X09 Media Decoders. Using AREC Multi-view Maker software on computers in this room, doctors could dynamically change which network sources they viewed. Wearing Avantree Quartet headsets and using Shure tabletop microphones, doctors relayed instructions to students and ensured they were followed immediately by observing the process through camera and Media Station livestreams displayed on the DS-X09. 

The masterful execution of this large AV-over-IP installation earned our partner Integracion AV international recognition at the Cala Awards 2024, winning the competition for Best AV Project of the Year. You can watch the project description video made by the Integracion AV team here and a general overview here.

We extend our gratitude to the Integracion AV team and Juan Carlos Gutierrez for the continued trust in and choice of AREC to meet their customers’ AV needs.

Is your local medical university or hospital looking to renovate or build a simulation centre? Contact us at www.a-dena.com to discuss how AREC solutions can create a truly immersive and impressive experience for your customers.