The Operating Room of the Future (Orthofeed)
A host of changes hold out the promise that surgery will be more efficient, more effective and less risky for patients
The operating room is getting smarter, more effective—and a lot less risky for patients.
Hospitals are investing in new devices, designs and digital technologies that promise a new era of innovation for surgery. The moves are part of a growing shift away from traditional open procedures that involve big incisions, lots of blood loss and long hospitalizations. They point toward a future where more patients can choose minimally invasive outpatient surgeries, with faster recoveries, fewer complications, and less pain and scarring.
These new technologies cover a range of advances. With some, surgeons can control robot cameras with eye movements as they move into patients’ bodies through tiny incisions. With others, doctors can create a GPS-like map projected onto a patient’s body to virtually see inside the anatomy before an operation, track their surgical tools and help them operate more precisely.
Other advances aim to reshape the operating room itself, by adding more space for surgeons to work as well as imaging equipment...
