Skytron ceiling mounted Surgical Lights & Surgical Booms working in coordination with the GE Discovery IGS 730 robotic imaging system to create a Hybrid Operating Room

A strategic partnership between SKYTRON and GE Healthcare has resulted in the first installation in the world of the new GE Discovery IGS 730 robotic imaging system for hybrid operating rooms. Surgeons at St. Luke's University Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where this new Hybrid Operating Theater is now installed, also played a large role in the design and development of the new robotic imaging system over the past few years. Through a culmination of many years of development and the coordination of many individuals and organizations, a state-of-the-art surgical environment has come to life.

The new mobile robotic technology of the GE Discovery IGS 730 is a true innovation that will allow surgeons to conduct complex minimally invasive hybrid procedures in a secure setting. With this technology surgeons are able to treat 'high risk' patients unfit for open surgery. It will allow performing complex minimally-invasive endovascular and percutaneous procedures on inoperable patients suffering from cardiovascular pathologies such as ruptured aorta aneurysms, fainting spells or cerebrovascular accidents.

In addition, the majority of patients receiving care in the new hybrid operating suite will have a reduced hospital stay and a quick return to normal activity. In addition, in terms of mobility/patient access and the ergonomics of the operating room, this is a huge step forward.

One of major advantages of this new high-tech environment is that the hybrid operating room allows both open surgery and catheter-based imaging therapies to take place in the same operating room. The hybrid OR enables multiple physicians (surgeons, Interventionalist, nurses, anaesthesiologists, and technicians) to perform a new spectrum of minimally invasive therapies with the goal of ultimately enabling better patient care. These complex minimally-invasive endovascular and percutaneous procedures will allow discharging patients much faster (five days in comparison to an average of 10 days) and reduce patient rehabilitation.

The Discovery IGS 730 is a laser-guided, mobile gantry, a first-of-its kind in interventional imaging. The system is neither floor nor ceiling mounted and enables full patient access, creating an interventional environment without boundaries. It has the mobility of a C-arm with the power and image quality of a fixed system, allowing multiple parking possibilities, while helping maintain sterility for a flexible and secure OR environment. It is intended for oncology (hepatic and bone tumors), neurology (aneurysms and brain tumors), as well as cardiovascular patients (stent appositions). The GE Discovery IGS 730 is the only x-ray angiographic medical imaging system with such mobility in the world.

The operating table from GE Healthcare is ergonomically designed to provide easy access to the patient and to surgical tools. Mounted on ceiling mounted booms from Skytron, large HD flat-screen monitors provide doctors immediate access to a patient's records and images. Also mounted from the ceiling are medical gases and medical data integration wiring that runs through additional booms provided by Skytron.

The surgeons at St. Luke's are very excited about this new technology that will make for a freer, more flexible work environment due fully mobile technology, unlike older operating rooms with devices fixed to the floor or ceiling.