A hand gesture system for medical images manipulation called “Gestix” was tested during a brain biopsy surgery. In the in vivo experiment, this type of interface avoided surgeon’s focus shift and change of location while achieving, rapid intuitive reaction, and natural interaction. The major advantages of this approach was naturalness (surgeon use his hands), and rapid reaction (hand gesture co...

Introduction: Simulator training offers an opportunity to safely educate new residents in a conducive learning environment. Methods: New, first-year anesthesia residents received a 3-day training course prior to beginning clinical training. Instruction focused on developing knowledge and skills for operating room preparation, general anesthesia induction, airway and anesthesia management, and p...

BACKGROUND Operating room (OR) crises are high-acuity events requiring rapid, coordinated management. Medical judgment and decision-making can be compromised in stressful situations, and clinicians may not experience a crisis for many years. A cognitive aid (e.g., checklist) for the most common types of crises in the OR may improve management during unexpected and rare events. While implementat...

Surgical staff is considered to have several ergonomic risk factors, but their physical workload and musculoskeletal health have seldom been evaluated. Clinical examinations of neck and upper extremities were performed in 99 theatre nurses and 93 assisting nurses, all females. Their physical workload was assessed by questionnaire, and by technical measurements of postures, movements and muscula...

UNLABELLED Economic considerations suggest that it is desirable to keep operating rooms fully used when staffed, but the optimum utilization of an operating room (OR) is not known. We created a simulation of an OR to define optimum utilization. We set operational goals of having cases start within 15 min of the scheduled time and of having the cases end no more than 15 min past the scheduled en...

THE JOURNAL OF BONE AND JOINT SURGERY S. P. F. Hughes, MS, FRCS, FRCS Ed(Orth), Head of the Division of Surgery, Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Imperial College School of Medicine, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8RF, UK. F. M. Anderson, FRCPath, Consultant Microbiologist Department of Microbiology, St Helier Hospital, Wrythe Lane, Carsh...

Historically anaesthetists employed only their senses to monitor patients during the conduct of anaesthesia. Recent developments have made the continuous watching of patient, devices, and every instrumental display virtually impossible. Hearing is an essential communication channel between instrument and user. The human auditory system responds most to the timing of sound stimuli so that a tran...

The skills of the anaesthetist are requested more frequently in different locations of the hospital outside the operating room. With rapid developments in medicine, there has been a proliferation in the number of procedures performed by nonsurgical physicians. Procedures may be uncomfortable or have severe complications. The anaesthetist's role is important to the safety and comfort of the pati...