New surgical luminaires – More than just a lighting

Successful lighting

Successful lighting in the operating room requires special luminance, shadow control and temperature balance. The lights should give hours of clear light without heating patients or staff. With successful design, the luminaire maximizes visibility, but minimizes surgeon´s eye fatigue. In the modern surgical lights, attention has also been paid to air flow control, which reduces the number of microbes in the operation area and thus reduces the risk of infection. One important feature is also the easy adjustment of lighting for direction, scope and power.

PehuTec has done surgical luminaires for several years together with customers. PehuTec’s expertise has been utilized in product development for new products, but also in the maintenance and upgrade of old products. PehuTec has been responsible for electronics, software and mechanics design.

Marko Korhonen works as a mechanic designer at PehuTec. He has worked with surgical luminaires for several years.

– Work is extremely interesting and challenging. Design work  aims always to the optimum solution, but in the operating room environment it is extremely important as there is no room for errors, says Marko.

Own standard for surgical luminaires

There is no room for errors in the operating room. In the case of medical devices, risk management plays a major role. The disadvantages caused by each risk must be assessed in relation to the benefits. Risk management ensures that there is no risk to the user or patient in case of device or software fault. The International Electro technical Commission (IEC) 60601-2-41 standard sets requirements for the surgical luminaires and their safety.

” PehuTec operates in agile way, even there is a product development of a regulatory product. Regulatory requirements can not be added to the product afterwards, so those have to be taken into account from the beginning to avoid unpleasant surprises when placing  the product on the market “, says PehuTec´s health technology specialist Junnu Lukkari.

Light without shadows

Modern dynamic shadow compensation provides optimum lighting in all conditions. Even if the light beam is temporarily covered, the remaining light beams will increase to compensate for the loss of light output. In this way, ideal illumination remains in the operating area without re-setting the lamp. Lighting always produces heat. Minimizing the extra heat in the operating room is important for both the patient and the staff. Modern luminaires are increasingly shifting to LED implementations to reduce the heat  and to produce the right color light.

Heikki Autio works as a software designer at PehuTec. He has been involved in the development of surgical luminaires.

– We have been responsible for software design from device-based drivers to the user interface. We have made IR authentication, touchscreen, motion sensor, capacitance meter, rangefinder and 4K camera as well as a large number of other I2C-capable devices, says Heikki.

Reduced risk of infection

Approximately every twentieth (5%) of patients entering the hospital will suffer from hospital infection. The risk of infection is greatest for those who come to cancer or surgical treatment. It is estimated that between 40000 and 50000 patients get hospital infection in Finland every year. Hospital infections  are  major problem around the world. They increase mortality and prolong hospitality, increasing healthcare costs.

One reason for hospital infections is the airflow in the operating rooms. Traditional surgical luminaires cause an air flow that increases the number of particles in the surgical area and thus patient’s risk of infection is increased. The design of new type of surgical luminaires optimizes airflow and enables ventilation.