New Theatre Lighting at SATH
The University of Liverpool recently installed new operating lights and camera systems in the Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH) on the University’s Leahurst campus to enhance their clinical work and student teaching.
The new systems were installed in the hospital’s three main operating theatres and minor procedures theatre. The Dräger Polaris® 600 and Polaris® 100 LED lights provide high-quality, extremely adjustable lighting. An integrated camera provides full HD video with up to 120x zoom that is displayed in theatre, recorded and distributed around the hospital by a KARL STORZ™ OR1 Audio Visual link system.
Dr Alistair Freeman, Senior Lecturer in the Soft Tissue Surgery Service, managed the upgrade project. He said “The new LED operating lights have huge benefits, both in improved quality of light and reduced heat output. The image quality from the camera system is excellent and the integration of the camera into the light head, along with the zoom capability of the camera, allows us to give our students an excellent view of the surgery even when they are not scrubbed in. Installation of the lights went smoothly and we are looking forward to making the most of the new setup”.
As well as variable brightness and light field diameter the Polaris 600® lights feature adjustable colour temperature to help reduce glare and fatigue during longer procedures and can be controlled by both scrubbed and non-scrubbed personnel. The Karl Storz OR1 Audio Visual link system allows display of video from the integrated light camera on wall-mounted screens in each operating theatre and records the video for later use in teaching. The video is also streamed over the hospital network so students outside theatre can watch procedures: an audio link to one of the SATH seminar rooms allows them to interact with the surgeons performing the procedure and ask questions.
This upgrade was made possible by a bequest from the Hulme family, whose dogs were treated by the SATH staff in their old facilities in Crown Street. Professor Laura Blackwood, Head of Department of Small Animal Clinical Science, said “We are extremely grateful for the support the Hulme family have given us, and delighted with the new lighting and camera systems, which will provide substantial benefits for patients, students and surgeons alike. “