The Richmond Hospital Foundation and Vancouver Coastal Health announced the official opening of Canada's first two operating rooms with 3-D technology, which will allow surgeons to perform safer and more accurate, minimally invasive abdominal surgeries.
Prior to the introduction of this technology, one of the biggest disadvantages of such laparoscopic surgeries was the surgeon had no depth perception during operations.
"It allows us to better identify the relationships between organs and structures because we've restored our depth perception to a certain extent," explained Richmond Hospital's head of surgery, Dr. Sharadh Sampath.
As of late September, Sampath and his colleagues have been able to look at three high-definition televisions in each operating room as they remotely manipulate the 3-D camera and other surgical tools that are inserted into a patient's body through small incisions.
As the surgery becomes theoretically easier for the surgeon to perform, it can result in less complications and faster recovery.
"Ultimately the goal is to do more with smaller incisions," said Sampath, who jokingly likens his new devices to video game controllers.
Setting up the two rooms cost $3.5 million and was paid for entirely with donations to the foundation. The equipment was purchased from and set up by ConMed Canada, a medical products company.
The nuts and bolts of the equipment is in the scope's camera, which now features two cameras instead of one. By wearing 3-D glasses, the left and right lenses provide a 3-D image for the eyes.
The 3-D technology combined with videoconferencing means other doctors can watch from a remote location.
Currently, the technology is only used for surgeries in the abdomen because the camera and light scope is too big (about the thickness of a pinky finger) for surgeries elsewhere.
Foundation president Natalie Meixner said the new technology means the hospital will be better suited to attract top doctors to Richmond.
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