Why more large monitors
will enter the operating room in 2017.
While we’ve gotten used to seeing our personal digital worlds with crystal clear clarity, the business world is a step behind in the migration to 4K technology and big screens.
“Businesses spend countless hours trying to figure out how to improve the productivity of their workers … Yet, there's one thing that literally stares us in the face and doesn't receive the attention it should: your computer monitor.” Desire Athow, Here’s why every office worker deserves a 4K monitor. Techradar.pro
The surgery suite is no exception. We’re still in an era of having surgical teams jammed around 26-inch monitors trying to laparoscopically extract a bad gallbladder. Meanwhile, we’re all streaming our personal entertainment on TV sets so enormous and crystal clear, it feels like the cast of Seinfeld just walked into our living room.
And that’s the concept behind big screen surgery. Creating that immersive experience for the surgical team with best-in-class imaging. The result? While it won’t exactly beam Scotty up into the surgical suite, UHD 4K surgery not only improves surgical precision, but it also improves efficiencies and communication inside the surgical suite.
Three reasons why bigger is better (in no particular order):
1) Better efficiency
Big screen surgery is much more than a big monitor. It also encompasses the breadth of the system too. A 4K surgical imaging system optimizes light, color and resolution. The result is four times the resolution, two times the color range, and clearer images in all light conditions compared to HD systems.
For some excellent information about 4K and UHD, check out Nick Pino and John Porter's recent article over on Techadar.
Bottom line: When you can see more, you can do more and act with greater confidence and speed. With 4K inundating the consumer electronics market, you can expect HD in the OR to rapidly go the way of the flip phone. Competitive surgery centers are quickly getting behind the curve ball.
Remember having to sit well back from a large screen so that it wasn’t blurry? No more. With 4K, viewing distance is not limited by resolution or image quality, but instead by the periphery of the human eye. That means 4K users can view high quality images on larger screens really close up—a distance roughly equal to the size of the display. The surgical team—the entire team—can view the same live image from just about anywhere in the room, on a central 55-inch display that magnifies anatomical features to deliver more visual information.
Bottom line: With the surgical team sharing the same view on the same monitor, it means better communication, easier collaboration, and a 4K viewing experience that brings the visuals so big and close, some surgeons say it feels like being inside the actual abdomen … but less messy.
Granted, the OR can get pretty cramped with multiple surgical platforms and a large operating staff. But migrating to big screen surgery can actually give you more room in the OR, not less. The 55-inch monitor can replace all the other secondary monitors in your OR. One screen. Same viewing experience for the entire team. The monitor can also be rotated vertically for easier transport or mounted on an overhead boom to eliminate clutter.
Bottom line: With less clutter, surgical teams can move themselves and their equipment more easily about the OR, creating greater efficiency and a better use of space.
