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Success Factors
Extensive Field Testing
Extensive field testing played a central role in refining the deployment. Max Life’s connect cases were driven through mountainous regions and known coverage gaps to test modem and antenna reliability and evaluate carrier bands.
Collaboration with Hospitals and Universities
Collaboration with hospitals and universities helped shape the system’s design. Working closely with medical teams allowed the system to evolve to meet real operational needs in stroke response.
Bonded Cellular Connectivity
Previous solution providers relied on smaller routers that struggled to maintain connections in demanding environments. Max Life chose the Peplink MAX HD4 MBX router, which supports up to four separate cellular connections simultaneously, allowing traffic to be distributed across multiple cellular carriers. By bonding these connections together, the system maintains connectivity even when individual carrier signals degrade or drop.
Rugged Hardware for Mobile Environments
Mobile stroke units operate in demanding environments where networking equipment must withstand vibration and continuous operation inside emergency vehicles. The Peplink MAX HD4 MBX router is designed for these conditions, with vehicle-grade shock and vibration tolerance, a durable metal enclosure, and a fanless design suited for mobile deployments.
Mobile stroke units represent a major advancement in emergency stroke care. These specialized ambulances enable neurologists to remotely diagnose stroke patients and guide treatment decisions in real time.
Clinical studies have shown that telemedicine assessment in mobile stroke units can match onboard neurologist decision-making. A connected telemedicine system allows specialists to remain engaged in patient care without being physically inside the vehicle.
The Challenge: Maintaining Uninterrupted Connectivity During Stroke Response
A dropped connection while the ambulance is en route to the hospital can mean losing contact with the neurologist or neurosurgeon during diagnosis. Without reliable connectivity to support telemedicine, physicians must be physically present in the ambulance to assist with diagnosis and make treatment decisions.
Existing systems lacked reliable connectivity. Dropped calls occurred during consultations, and in at least one case, a provider discontinued use mid-contract due to modem performance issues.
Variability in cellular coverage created additional difficulties. In dense urban areas such as Los Angeles, hills created coverage gaps, and tower congestion led to unstable connections. Rural and mountainous regions also presented coverage challenges.
The Solution: Custom Telemedicine Software with Bonded Cellular Connectivity
The Max Life team developed its own telemedicine software and refined its integration with hardware in mobile stroke units.
To ensure a secure and uninterrupted connection, the deployment uses a quad-cellular Peplink router, the MAX HD4 MBX 5G. The router supports simultaneous connections across multiple carriers, including Verizon, AT&T (FirstNet), and T-Mobile. It is paired with two Peplink Mobility 82G antennas, each supporting two of the four cellular connections.
The router supports real-time video and audio transmission from onboard cameras and communication systems. It also provides connectivity for a rugged PC running a web-based telemedicine platform, with a ruggedized monitor mounted inside the vehicle.
Multiple camera views, including pan-tilt-zoom, fisheye, webcam, and handheld cameras, provide visual access. Max Life’s software enables physicians to remotely control camera positioning and zoom while paramedics operate inside the vehicle. Audio can be routed to connected devices, microphones can be muted, and volume adjusted.
The Outcome: Expanding Deployments with Reliable Telemedicine Connectivity
The deployment began with a single mobile stroke unit and expanded to additional units across Texas, California, Indiana, and New York. Over several years of operation, there have been zero complaints regarding connectivity performance.
Hospitals now have a secure system that keeps neurologists connected during stroke response. Physicians can diagnose patients and guide treatment decisions without needing to ride inside the ambulance.
What’s Next: Expanding Applications
Max Life’s team is working with hospitals to explore cellular connectivity options for hospital carts. Using Peplink modems to provide dedicated cellular connectivity outside the hospital network could reduce lag and ensure reliable connectivity.
There have also been discussions regarding the use of Peplink technology to provide connectivity for the CT scanners used in mobile stroke units.
