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Olga Deshchenko, DOTmed News Reporter | August 15, 2011
From the August 2011 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
But choosing an imaging solution is only the first step of equipping a hybrid room. It will also require a table, lights, booms and video integration devices – and that’s just some of the necessities.
Devices that can be easily modified when needed are important for hybrid rooms, a requirement manufacturers are well aware of when designing equipment management systems.
Last year, Trumpf Medical Systems launched its latest boom product called TruPort, a ceiling mounted system with a completely modular head. The design allows for an easy configuration of the system when say, new equipment comes into the OR, says Steve Palmer, the company’s director of marketing.
Palmer describes TruPort as a “plug-n-play” boom, since repositioning of services can be done without having to call in a service tech.
And in March, Berchtold Coporation introduced its new Teletom boom with an exchangeable module design. Matthew Weismiller, the company’s president, says the boom can be easily reconfigured to accommodate changes in gases and services when necessary.
To ease the equipment selection process, many vendors, including leading surgical companies such as Skytron, Steris, Stryker, Trumpf and Berchtold, are forming unprecedented strategic partnerships with imaging giants like GE, Philips, Siemens and Toshiba to offer comprehensive equipment solutions for hybrid suites. These partnered imaging and surgical equipment companies create and share sample hybrid room layouts, enabling hospitals to see how all the equipment can work together. “It’s very comfortable for customers who have to start from scratch,” says Philips’ Naus. “They have a starting point.”
For instance, Toshiba worked with Maquet to make the company’s ceiling mounted Infinix-i X-ray systems compatible with the Maquet Magnus OR table. And last spring, Stryker and Intuitive Surgical formed an alliance to integrate the daVinci Si surgical robot with the Stryker iSuite.
Because many institutions choose to work with multiple companies, vendor partnerships can also save time.
Brian Grant, assistant product manager with Skytron, says hospitals have no direct experience with hybrid rooms, so showing them feasible models – which have been preapproved in terms of design, fit and ergonomics of all the equipment thanks to vendor collaboration – can speed up the planning process.
The path to hybrid
While hybrid suite portfolios differ among vendors, they share a goal of meeting the needs of the multidisciplinary specialists within the OR.
Dr Michael Friebe
Training and Integration needed ...
August 18, 2011 08:18
Nice review!
What is clear is the need for common standards (mainly software) to get the ideal and best suited environment for the individual purpose.
The next generation of Hybrid OR's integrating CT and MRI systems and possibly dedicated radiation therapy equipment (e.g. intraoperative RT procedures) is already on the horizon.
What still remains a problem is the staff training - no use to have a fancy OR and no one or not enough people who are able to use it properly. All in all exciting developments to come.
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