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H E A D L I G H T S
brighter light provided by LEDs renders tissue more favorably.
3 Cordless comfort
This important factor comes down to whether surgeons prefer working with tethered or cordless headlights. They want to move freely around the OR, but won't surrender light intensity to do it.
Battery-powered LED headlights let surgeons move wherever they want, unhindered by cords. A surgeon wearing a tethered fiber-optic xenon headlight, however, might have to unplug the headlight, move the light source, plug the headlight back in and reposition the headset. He also must worry about keeping the headlight's non-sterile cable from touching or resting on sterile drapes.
Because light sources sit on top of the headlight and various models are weighted differently, surgeons must trial available options to see which have the proper balance when worn during the specific cases they perform. I've heard some surgeons complain that certain cordless models throw off their center of gravity because the light source is integrated in the headset. That's important: Even a slight change to
a surgeon's preferred stance can have a huge impact on how he performs during intricate procedures.
A headlight must also mesh with surgeons' loupes so they see with optimal illumination and magnification. It took my partner and me some time to adjust the fit of our cordless LED headlights and some getting used to how they feel. But after a short adjustment curve with respect to how we need to position our heads during surgery, they work for us. In fact, they're so comfortable we hardly notice we're wearing them.
Passing cordless LED models between docs at a busy surgical facility might not be the optimal scenario. Before cases, each surgeon would
