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always support the touted bene-
fits over more invasive or less
high-tech approaches (as in the
case of robotic surgery), a large
percentage of patients will con-
tinue to expect and demand mini-
mally invasive surgery."
The streamlined procedures
and speedy recoveries promised
by minimally invasive approaches
benefit from ORs that are fully
integrated with real-time imaging
technology, and this technology may in fact boost the widespread
adoption of the "hybrid OR," says Mr. Miller. A concept emerging
from hospitals' interventional procedure rooms, hybrid ORs could
optimize surgical suites to accommodate more types of cases.
Hospital angiography and cardiac catheterization labs are outfit-
ted with imaging technology that let physicians view and navigate
delicate pathways. But these procedure rooms aren't usually con-
sidered part of the surgery department because they've been
designed for radiology cases.
"So you prep the patient, bring him into the room, anesthetize
him, make the incision, do the procedure, close and take him to
recovery. Doesn't that sound like surgery?" argues Mr. Miller.
"Today, more and more surgeons want that kind of real-time imag-
ing to support their minimally invasive cases."
Alternatively, in the event that a diagnostic imaging procedure in a
cath lab reveals a cause for immediate action and a mid-case con-
version to surgery, the equipment and ventilation of a surgical OR
would prove convenient. "The future of surgery is the ability to have
S U R G I C A L T E C H N O L O G Y
WHAT GOES ON The OR of the future must
be efficient, connected, versatile and profitable.
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