GTE joins with Texas educational institutions to demonstrate global telemedicine and distance learning during world's largest international telecommunications conference.

IRVING, Texas -- GTE, in conjunction with four Texas educational institutions, will provide a live, interactive videolink between Irving, Texas, and Geneva, Switzerland, to demonstrate how telecommunications can deliver health care and education to destinations thousands of miles apart.

From Oct. 2-11, the demonstrations will link GTE's Technology Solutions Center in Irving, Texas, to the more than 320,000 attendees at Telecom 95, a forum drawing virtually all the world's telecommunications companies, as well as more than 100 telecommunication ministers and director generals from around the world.

"GTE will showcase telecommunications technology that eliminates distance as an obstacle, making quality health care and education available to everyone, no matter where they live," said Ellen Barnes Pfiffner, GTE medical segment manager. "At the same time, telemedicine and distance learning can reduce health care and education delivery costs."

Demonstration participants in Irving and Telecom 95 participants in Geneva will be able to interact during 80 hours of telemedicine and education programming carried live over a fully dedicated ISDN link. An ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) link also will be demonstrated on site in Geneva. All demonstrations will originate from GTE's Technology Solutions Center in Irving.

Telemedicine demonstrations will feature remote clinical diagnosis and consultation using interactive video and diagnostic medical equipment, such as the video ENT-scope, dermascope, stethoscope and the electronic blood pressure cuff.

The Science Place demonstrates remote medical training

The Science Place, the Southwestern Museum of Science and Technology, located in Dallas, will contribute three demonstrations under the supervision of Chaz Hafey, vice president of education programs at The Science Place:

• hands-on dissection of heart tissue conducted by cardiologist Dr. Wallace Frasher, revealing the role of blood pressure in the circulatory system and the operation of the heart;

• hands-on dissection of an eye, giving an overview of the outer and inner areas of the eye and describing how the parts of the eye work together;
• a series of liquid nitrogen experiments showing the unusual effects cold and heat have on various everyday objects.
• representatives of Richland College, located in Dallas, will use student-centered instruction in an "English as a Second Language" class to teach verbal, reading comprehension and writing skills;
• a representative of North Lake College, located in Irving, will teach an education and training session for American executives on Japanese life and culture;
• representatives of Texas A&M; University, operators of the largest distance learning network in the United States, will host a two-way business discussion on the operation and benefits of distance learning and training.

The demonstrations will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily at Telecom 95 in Geneva, Monday, Oct. 2 through Wednesday, Oct. 11 (PALEXPO, Geneva, Switzerland, Hall 7, Stand 7.429; in Irving, 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. CST).

GTE is the largest U.S.-based local telephone company and a leading cellular-service provider in the United States, with wireline and wireless operations that form a market area covering more than one third of the country's population. With net income of $2.5 billion and revenues of $20 billion in 1994, the corporation is the fourth-largest publicly owned telecommunications company in the world. GTE also is a leader in government and defense communications systems and equipment, aircraft-passenger telecommunications, directories and telecommunications-based information services and systems.