Olympus has this week unveiled its latest ENDOALPHA Integrated Theatre at Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – the first in the UK to include near-infrared imaging technology.
The hospital invested in the new surgical platform, VISERA ELITE II, a compact all-in-one solution which reduces the number of devices required in the theatre that can be used for 2D and 3D HD imaging.
It also offers different observation possibilities including near-infrared (NIR) imaging – the first integrated theatre in the UK to have this facility – and Narrow Band Imaging (NBI). Both NIR and NBI can help to improve patient outcomes during diagnostics or surgery.
Also installed in the theatre is the THUNDERBEAT TYPE S, which delivers hybrid energy simultaneously from a single, multi-functional instrument.
As the world’s-only integration of both advanced bipolar energy and ultrasonic energy, Southend’s investment in this technology will give its surgeons the ability to select the technology option most appropriate to their specific procedural needs.
A touch panel within the sterile field gives surgeons full control over all medical and peripheral equipment. In addition, the theatre is equipped with a web-based conferencing system, enabling live clinical images, with two-way audio that can be broadcasted.
Senior product manager for systems integration at Olympus, David Gillett, said: “By installing a new theatre with the latest technology, the hospital is able to offer the very-best environment for its clinical team, providing significant benefits such as improved theatre efficiency and patient outcomes.”
Mike Dworkin, consultant surgeon at Southend University Hospital Trust, added: “So far we have used the theatre for cancer, ulcerative colitis, crohn’s, diverticular operations and radical prostate surgery.
“Many of these patients would have previously had to have open’ surgery, which would have meant longer hospital stays and recovery times and greater post-operative pain and scarring.
“The great news for patients is we have now got faster set up times for surgery and quicker change over between cases and have the equipment to carry out on-table colonoscopy, which will make cancer surgery more accurate.
“We can now bring digital X-rays and body scans to the screens and record operations for education purposes, dramatically enhancing the teaching process for training our own staff or using the two-way video conferencing to beam operations and training to hospitals or conferences across the world.”
Olympus staff first went on site in July to commence the complete refurbishment from start to finish.
The hospital is able to benefit from Olympus’ capacity to provide a complete, cost-effective, bespoke solution which included the initial planning, room design, building, third-party products and ongoing support.