M A Y 2 0 1 9 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 5 7
S
urgeons some-
times obsess
over screen
size, so fixated
on a monitor's
diagonal length that they
overlook the 3 P's: position-
ing, proximity and pixels.
Yes, size is important, but not
as important as your physi-
cians might have you believe.
Unless you're doing
extremely complex proce-
dures like neurosurgery, you
don't need a giant 65-inch 4K wall monitor. Plus, unless you're outfit-
ting for a futuristic hybrid OR, you're dealing with standardized
screen sizes to begin with, says Suraj S. Soudagar, MS, MBA, LEED
AP, associate principal and project executive with IMEG Corp., a
healthcare engineering firm in Naperville, Ill.
For wall monitors, most vendors offer screens between 50 inches
and 58 inches. There are some 60-inch surgical monitors out there,
but not many.
As a rule-of-thumb, surgical planners say wall-mounted OR monitors
are nearly twice as large as the screens suspended from booms or sit-
ting on carts in the surgical field. The range inside the field varies
depending on image quality. Most HD monitors today are 26 inches,
OR Screen Size Matters, But There's More
A monitor's diagonal length is important, but not everything is
measured in inches.
• PROPER PLACEMENT Regardless of a monitor's size, mount or sus-
pend them in a neutral position relative to the viewer's eyes to prevent
musculoskeletal injuries. In the field, screens should be 3 to 5 feet from
the front of the viewer and 10 to 25 degrees below the line of sight.
Jared Bilski | Senior Associate Editor
