ating rooms, and every one of them will feature video integration plat-
forms that can capture video from multiple 4K monitors. "I think
video recording will someday become the industry standard," says Dr.
Lumsden. "That's the direction we're moving in."
5. Bigger screens
High-definition video monitors are expanding beyond 55 inches to
give surgical teams bigger and better views of surgery. Dr. Lumsden
says big screens mounted on the walls of Houston Methodist's oper-
ating rooms also allow for multi-modality room management. "We
can customize the displays by having the video system automatically
pull preset information from a patient's electronic record," he
explains. "That means we can look at pre-op scans of anatomy, lab
results and OR management tools such as a clock to track turnover
times."
Sending images from laparoscopic or arthroscopic cameras to large
monitors mounted where the entire surgical team can view the action
ensures everyone in the room is on the same page as surgery pro-
gresses, says Dr. Lumsden.
"That's not why we invested in new imaging technology and the big
screens, but our nurses and techs appreciate that they can follow the
progress of surgery and know exactly what's going on in the sterile
field," he adds. "It helps the cohesiveness and quality of the support
we receive."
Looking ahead to 8K
One Asian manufacturer is working on producing an 8K UHD system,
which has a 7680 × 4320-pixel matrix. A 2016 study assessed the tech-
nology and found that it could be promising for complex minimally
invasive procedures (osmag.net/PSBth8).
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