| Another Regional Medical Center first
Regional Medical Center Launches South Carolina’s First Fully Integrated Voice-Controlled, High-Definition Digital Operating Room
Orangeburg Surgeons perform surgery with network of voice-controlled medical devices
for minimally invasive surgery
Orangeburg, SC-- The Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg and Calhoun Counties has most recently invested more than $450,000 in improving the community’s healthcare services to become the first medical facility in the state to launch a fully integrated voice-controlled, high-definition digital operating room.
The EndosuiteŽ by the Stryker Corporation has revolutionized the way minimally invasive surgical procedures are performed. The Regional Medical Center’s newly remodeled operating room is outfitted with state-of-the-art Stryker booms, lights and voice-activated, high-definition cameras and offers significant patient care benefits, including reduced time in the operating room. “The Stryker Endosuite and the 1088 HD camera provide the Regional Medical Center with the highest resolution available in the surgical environment today,” said Jim Desmond, a Stryker representative from Columbia, SC. “The Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in the state to implement not only a fully integrated Endosuite, but a suite with high-definition camera technology.”
“The Regional Medical Center is committed to providing the community with the highest level of healthcare using state-of-the-art medical technology,” explained RMC CEO Tom Dandridge. “Bringing this new technology in surgery to the Regional Medical Center is an obvious example of this commitment. This advanced medical technology for our patients allows us to increase the productivity of our hospital staff, improve procedural efficiency, and reduce overall operative costs.”
A fully integrated operating room of the future, the new endoscopic surgical suite has a voice-controlled system called SidneŽ, which allows surgeons to have direct control of surgical devices using simple verbal commands. Studies show that voice control leads to increased efficiency, improved surgeon control and a reduction in surgical time. The EndosuiteŽ operating room also provides surgeons with the technology to receive digital images from other sources in the hospital, including X-rays and microscopic pathology.
Dr. Paul Banish, a general surgeon with Orangeburg Surgical Associates, uses this cutting-edge technology when performing advanced laparoscopic procedures. “The features of this Stryker technology allow surgeons and operating room staff to have more direct control over the operating room environment,” said Dr. Banish. “The Sidne system also allows nurses to concentrate more of their efforts directly on the patient by taking away some of the repetitive tasks commonly performed in the operating room. This really is the final piece in becoming a laparoscopic center. We have solidified our longstanding services in gall bladder, stomach and kidney surgery, and can now move forward with laparoscopic innovations to upgrade hernia and colon surgery.”
Dr. Mike Hill, also a general surgeon with Orangeburg Surgical Associates, noted, “Details of internal organs are incredibly enhanced beyond what we could see with the previous generation of camera technology. Furthermore, this top-of-the-line voice-controlled system allows the operating room staff to concentrate on providing care to the patient, rather than waiting for my commands and pushing buttons on complicated medical devices,” commented Dr. Hill.
The Regional Medical Center surgeons are using the new operating room for minimally invasive, camera-assisted laparoscopic surgeries including cholecystectomy (gall bladder surgery), hernia repair, nephrectomy, anti-reflux surgery and colon resections.
Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is much less traumatic than conventional open surgery, as the surgeon only requires very small incisions in the patient’s body to successfully perform an operation. The surgeon uses an endoscope to allow the anatomy and operation to be viewed on a video monitor. MIS results in shorter hospital stays, faster recovery times and reduced procedural costs. In MIS, the surgeon uses both hands to manipulate special instruments to perform the procedure. An assistant, under the verbal direction of the surgeon, traditionally controls all other medical devices used during the surgery.
“This new operating room with high-definition digital technology really puts us on the cutting edge of laparoscopic surgery,” added general surgeon Dr. Gina Quaid. “This is truly a look ahead to the future of operating rooms.”
For more information about this state-of the-art surgery suite at the Regional Medical Center, please contact the Public Relations Department at 803.395.2319.
Note: Stryker Endoscopy and Stryker Communications develop, manufacture, and market surgical equipment and communications equipment for healthcare facilities worldwide. Endosuite and Sidne are registered trademarks of Stryker Corporation (corporate headquarters, Kalamazoo, Michigan). |