The ARTEKMED project developed an immersive tele‑presence system for medical tele‑consultation, enabling experts in different locations to collaborate in real time to care for patients. Seven user studies were conducted with specialists from emergency medicine, trauma surgery, and intensive care to evaluate the system’s effectiveness. The studies demonstrated that immersive tele‑presence can provide medical expertise when experts are not physically present, a capability that is especially valuable during mass casualty incidents or pandemics, where minimizing contact with infected patients protects both healthcare workers and the public.

The technical core of ARTEKMED is a real‑time capture, transmission, and rendering pipeline that delivers detailed visual and contextual information to remote participants. The system incorporates a tele‑presence framework that supports multiple participants, 3D reconstruction of the clinical environment, and mixed‑reality avatars that represent remote experts. The 3D reconstruction module uses depth sensors and structured‑light or LiDAR technology to generate a dense point cloud of the operating room or emergency scene, which is then streamed to the remote side with minimal latency. The avatars are animated in real time using motion capture data, allowing non‑verbal cues such as gestures and facial expressions to be conveyed across the network.

In addition to the core framework, ARTEKMED introduced several application modules. A pre‑hospital tele‑consultation module allows paramedics to share live video and sensor data with specialists at a receiving hospital, facilitating rapid triage and decision‑making. An operating‑room module provides surgeons with a shared 3D view of the surgical field, enabling remote experts to guide procedures or review instrument placement. An intensive‑care module extends the virtual visit concept to ICU patients, allowing specialists to monitor vital signs and imaging data while interacting with bedside staff. Early results from the user studies indicate that participants rated the immersive system higher than conventional video telephony in terms of situational awareness, communication clarity, and perceived presence, although a full statistical analysis is pending.

Despite these promising findings, the project identified limitations in image quality and motion capture fidelity. Current depth sensors do not yet provide sufficient resolution for all surgical procedures, and the reconstruction algorithms require further refinement. The report recommends integrating higher‑performance sensors and applying artificial‑intelligence‑based reconstruction techniques to enhance detail and reduce noise. Moreover, the acceptance of virtual collaboration with digital avatars depends on improving real‑time capture of subtle movements, gestures, and facial expressions. The developed technologies also enable high‑density 3D recording of entire operating‑room workflows, opening possibilities for automated activity recognition and process analysis.

ARTEKMED was carried out by a consortium that combined academic research institutions, clinical partners, and technology developers. The collaboration brought together expertise in computer vision, human‑computer interaction, medical imaging, and clinical practice. While the report does not list individual partners, it emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of the effort and the integration of clinical workflows into the system design. The project was funded through a European research programme, reflecting the broader goal of addressing workforce shortages and improving emergency care through advanced tele‑consultation solutions. The consortium’s work demonstrates that immersive tele‑presence can enhance medical decision‑making and patient care, provided that sensor technology and reconstruction algorithms continue to advance.