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video offers "amazing opportunities for learning and teaching best practices."
Getting it right the first time
Lisa Stevens, RT(R), MHSA, director of cardiology and radiology at OSF St.
Joseph's Medical Center in Bloomington, Ill., says her hospital needed to add a
sixth OR to expand its surgical capacity, and decided to invest in a hybrid suite
to accommodate complex cardiology and spine procedures.
When shopping for real-time imaging platforms to add to the room, they
looked for platforms with high image quality that were easy to use and able to
integrate with the room's surgical table.
The C-arm is mounted to the ceiling so it can rotate around the patient. It fea-
tures low-dose software that freezes captured images and creates road maps of
the patient's anatomy with as few images as possible to reduce radiation doses
by as much as 40%, compared with the hospital's previous-generation imaging
technology.
"Real-time imaging leads to safer, less invasive surgery," says Ms. Stevens.
"Targeted approaches and near-real-time feedback avoid waiting for other staff
or equipment to confirm placement of hardware or the effectiveness of surgical
interventions."
Using a patient's anatomy to guide approaches is where surgery is heading,
she says. "That decreases infections and turnaround times, and patients don't
have to come back for reoperation, because outcomes are confirmed during the
initial procedure," she says. "It's a clear benefit to patient safety."
The hospital is also investing in an O-arm, a donut-shaped unit that takes stan-
dard X-rays, but also captures 3D images of anatomy. The unit opens up into
the shape of a conventional C-arm to capture 2D anteroposterior (AP) and lat-
eral images. When closed, it scans completely around the patient for 18 to 23
seconds, capturing 3D images that it sends directly to a surgical navigation
system that helps guide surgeons' movements. The 3D images are captured
with a single scan, which helps surgeons operate faster and limits the surgical
