How new technology is reshaping hospital operating suites

Surgeries have come a long way since the early ’90s, when laparoscopy—a technique in which physicians operate via tools inserted through small incisions (often paired with cameras)—took operating rooms by storm.

Robotic arms and other high-tech equipment are becoming more common in surgical suites, physicians are using 3D printing to prepare for more difficult procedures, and some surgeons are even pioneering ways to operate on patients who are hundreds of miles away.

The advancements, which show no signs of slowing down, offer a preview of what future patients may be able to expect when they need a surgical procedure, and how hospitals would need to design and prepare their operating rooms (ORs) to optimize that experience.

Not your grandfather’s OR

Abbie Clary, a codirector of CannonDesign’s global health practice, told Healthcare Brew that future surgical platforms must be built to accommodate technological and equipment size changes—the latter of which presents a challenge, as some machines are getting smaller while others are “enormous.”

“How do you design a surgery platform to not be oversized—because that’s a waste of space—but have enough flexibility to allow for the next generation of robotics?” she posited.

Clary said her architecture firm has designed hybrid ORs that feature imaging equipment alongside robotics, allowing physicians to be “very finite and targeted in how they’re doing the surgery.”

Samuel Browd, co-founder and chief medical officer of Proprio—a platform that uses artificial intelligence to improve surgical outcomes—told Healthcare Brew that new technologies like his can help streamline surgical suites, which are often “super cluttered” with monitors and other devices.

Swapping out multiple machines for a single multipurpose unit, he argued, “totally changes the needs in the operating room and the efficiency of providing that care,” and saves hospitals from needing several million-dollar pieces of equipment. Such changes benefit not just hospital finances but also patient and physician experiences, Browd added.

“The way we operate now, it’s a physical exercise: You have a lot of weight on your head, and you’re leaning forward—very uncomfortable,” he said. “The ability to integrate technology is going to make it better for the patient, and make it better for the surgeon, too.”

Operating suites could also see design changes if more facilities embrace up-and-coming technologies that allow surgeons to remotely perform procedures on patients at other hospitals.

In March, a New York City-based surgeon used a cutting-edge system developed by Monogram Orthopaedics to complete the world’s first fully remote total knee replacement surgery on a cadaver in Texas—highlighting how robotics could transform operations in the coming years.

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Practice makes perfect

Technology advancements have also made it easier for surgeons to prepare for rare, complicated procedures.

Michael Pukszta, a codirector of CannonDesign’s global health practice, told Healthcare Brew surgical suites are “right around the corner” from allowing physicians to take that practice a step further.

“Pretty soon, with data, we’re going to be able to create a digital twin of a patient and have a surgeon or team actually do an operation on the digital twin before they do it on a real person,” he said. “In some of our surgical suites now, we’re actually creating spaces that are going to be the pre-surgical room where, for highly complicated surgeries […] the team could actually do it once in practice before they go in and do it on the real patient.”

Pukszta added that some surgical suites his team has helped design feature technology that allows physicians to project live MRI, CT, and X-ray images directly on patients so surgeons can see what’s happening inside.

“I think that’s the future of really high-tech ORs,” he said.

Kristine White contributed to this report.