OR Technology: A Glimpse Into the Future

Posted in Articles, Information Technology (IT), Olympus, STERIS, Operating Room (OR), OR

Arena,Technology

January 18, 2010

-Jessica Barreras

As we move into 2010, a new wave of technology awaits us. Highly-developed health information
technology (HIT)-driven systems and equipment are becoming the standard in many operating rooms
(ORs), whether they are in a single-specialty ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) or advanced surgical
hospitals. It is important to stay up-to-date on these new technologies which not only reduce medical
errors, but improve patient comfort and post discharge follow-up. The following case studies highlight this
trend.

OR Technology Update: A Steris Case Study

The epitome of surgical technology today is one OR in which surgeons can perform image-
guided, catheter-based interventional procedures; minimally invasive endoscopic procedures; extremely
precise robotic surgery; or full open surgery, depending on the case load or discoveries made in surgery.
In this type of hybrid OR, integrated imaging, computerized patient information and live video routing
technologies instantly display test results and critical real-time information on high-definition monitors in
the sterile field. This allows surgeons and staff to ascertain the most timely and accurate diagnosis and
treatment for the patient. It also helps them achieve the most flexible and effective uses of the room and
optimize scheduling and utilization.

These are also the types of rooms in which medical leaders and pioneers train residents and
other clinicians, develop new minimally invasive procedures, such as natural orifice trans-luminal
endoscopic surgery (NOTES) and trans-catheter heart valve replacement and master new surgical
devices.

These highly advanced rooms can incorporate advanced communications, connectivity, LED
surgical lighting and high-definition visualization such as intra-operative fluoroscopy, intra-operative
computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, image-guided navigation, 3D software
extrapolations of the imaging, robotics and many other technologies. Each of these tools are important in
today’s hybrid OR, but when integrated correctly they form a seamless whole that is greater than the sum
of its parts.

To accomplish this synergy, STERIS collaborates with leading manufacturers to design and
install customized, integrated HD360°™ Hybrid ORs for healthcare facilities. STERIS project design
managers configure STERIS’s open infrastructure Harmony® Lighting and Visualization systems,
equipment management systems and advanced integration technologies with interoperative imaging,
robotics, endoscopic and video technologies and more. The result is a suite that enables fully informed
staff, highly efficient procedures, extremely flexible room use, successful surgeon recruitment, medical
education, ongoing surgical innovation, leading edge robotic surgery, telemedicine, and new possibilities
yet to be imagined.

-http://www.surgistrategies.com