Tomorrow's operating room to harness Net, RFID

Iria · Oct 19, 2005, 03:44 PM

SAN FRANCISCO--It's hard to do most jobs without talking to your peers, but in the operating room, poor communication can cost a life.

In the operating room of the future, however, telling a doctor he or she is making a mistake could be as easy as pointing to a computer screen or "wall of knowledge"--a thoroughgoing summary of background data, vital signs and strategic information designed to prevent mistakes during surgery.

To best understand this so-called operating room of the future, which experts discussed at the "OR of the future" medical conference here on Monday, imagine a football video game. It would show players' backgrounds, injuries, vital statistics, real-time video, milestones and progress logs. It would keep track of the players, the coaches and give the gamers options for play calling.

In surgery, the "wall of knowledge" presents a similar "team huddle," translating the big picture, minute by minute, of the patient and surgical events from various data. That's a big change for nurses, doctors, assistants, surgeons and anesthesiologists who are typically so focused on their specific tasks and specialized computer feeds that they might sometimes miss the patient's overall health.

"We see the acceleration of technology coming into the OR and nurses are having to keep up with the 'data burden,'" said Dr. Warren Sandberg of the center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "We think there's room to convert all that information into knowledge...With this system, anybody can see a snapshot of everything that's happening."
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Read More / Source: ZDNet

Oct 19, 2005, 03:44 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 89	Tomorrow's operating room to harness Net, RFID SAN FRANCISCO--It's hard to do most jobs without talking to your peers, but in the operating room, poor communication can cost a life. In the operating room of the future, however, telling a doctor he or she is making a mistake could be as easy as pointing to a computer screen or "wall of knowledge"--a thoroughgoing summary of background data, vital signs and strategic information designed to prevent mistakes during surgery. To best understand this so-called operating room of the future, which experts discussed at the "OR of the future" medical conference here on Monday, imagine a football video game. It would show players' backgrounds, injuries, vital statistics, real-time video, milestones and progress logs. It would keep track of the players, the coaches and give the gamers options for play calling. In surgery, the "wall of knowledge" presents a similar "team huddle," translating the big picture, minute by minute, of the patient and surgical events from various data. That's a big change for nurses, doctors, assistants, surgeons and anesthesiologists who are typically so focused on their specific tasks and specialized computer feeds that they might sometimes miss the patient's overall health. "We see the acceleration of technology coming into the OR and nurses are having to keep up with the 'data burden,'" said Dr. Warren Sandberg of the center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "We think there's room to convert all that information into knowledge...With this system, anybody can see a snapshot of everything that's happening." ___________ Read More / Source: ZDNet