Telemedicine Comes to the Operating Room

A modern hospital operating room often has someone you never see on television: a medical device company representative. The device might be a special saw or probe or other tool for the surgeon to use. It might be an artificial hip or knee—or a mandible or a pacemaker.

The surgeon may be using the device and its toolkit for the first time. The medical device company representative often knows more about the device and its insertion than anyone on the surgical team.

Even in non-Covid times, it’s a plus to have as few people in the OR as possible. And it’s inefficient to fly these company reps around the country to advise an operation that might only take an hour. 

And so, in a handful of ORs, you’ll see something else—one or more cameras, mounted strategically, and a flat-panel screen on a console, connected to a remote console. The medical device rep—or a consulting surgeon—can be a thousand kilometers away, controlling the cameras, looking at an MRI scan, and making notations on their tablet that can be seen on the one in the operating room.

It’s telemedicine for the OR, and it’s the brainchild of our guest today.