The field of Surgery has seen two major paradigm shifts - from Open to Laparoscopic and then from Laparoscopic to Robotic. During this transition, newer more advanced technologies and devices have been added to the already existing Operating Rooms. But in spite of the technical advancements in the equipment used and the way Surgery is performed, the Operating Room itself has remained unaltered over the ages. As a consequence, our traditional Operating Rooms have succumbed to lack of space, cluttered cables, overcrowding, poor connectivity and data access making them an inefficient workspace. Our project “OR of the Future” hinges on addressing these issues while aiming to change the way we think of Operating Rooms. Imaging and Visualization is one crucial aspect of this otherwise broad scoped project.

In the current Operating Rooms, different members of the team view information pertaining to them on small independent screens. Due to this independent visualization scheme, working as a team and coordinating with each other at different stages of the procedure becomes problematic. Since the nurses, the Assistant Surgeon and the Anesthesiologist do not see exactly what the Surgeon sees; it becomes difficult for them to prepare for the “next step” in a timely fashion. With this problem in hand, we hope to find a solution with the proposed instrument, the Visualization Wall.

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Bhatia, S., Leigh, J., Brown, M., Renambot, L., Long, L., Giulianotti, P. C., Visualization Wall for OR of the Future, First Clinical Robotic Surgery Association (CRSA) Meeting, Chicago, IL, October 9th, 2009.