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S U R G I C A L
I M A G I N G
SEE AND BE SEEN Streamed live, surgical video keeps everyone on the same page. Recorded and edited, it supports medical documentation.
cable, it either stops the cart in its tracks or it pulls plugs out, bending the pins," says Dr. Renton.
A monitor unencumbered by data cables is also more easily maneuvered for ergonomic viewing, something that has led him to dream about an (as-yet uncreated) wireless laparoscopic camera. "Can you imagine?" he asks. "No light source cord, no camera cord and a wireless signal."
The miniaturization of system components is another big step ahead for surgical image management. In conference exhibit halls this spring, a product described as a "video tower in a box" combined an HD touchscreen display, camera control unit and LED light source in a desktopsized, all-in-one unit. Another manufacturer has aspired to all-in-one through a widescreen HD monitor on which several imaging sources can be displayed simultaneously, eliminating the need to mount multiple monitors and the possibility of color differences between them.