The holistic approach included in the Clean Capsule intelligent operating room concept is based on the benefits of efficient project management:
The added value is the ability to manage the surgical environment and monitor the microbiological purity of the air to minimize the risk of surgical site infections. The responsibility of the leading supplier, the lack of distraction, the ability to integrate technologies from different vendors during the project implementation result in measurable savings.
Hospital operating rooms have very specific requirements in terms of the internal environment, mainly the need for sterile air flow (filtration class H13 or H14).
Goals:
The consequences of poor design or implementation of ventilation systems in operating theaters can be very serious, leading to increased infection rates among patients and affecting the efficiency of the surgical staff.
Progress in surgery, including the development of minimally invasive procedures and the so-called hybrid rooms, resulted in a significant increase in the number of medical equipment placed on the OR: angiographs, monitors, columns etc. On the other hand, the latest research on the ventilation of operating theaters (Nordenadler, 2010) posed new challenges and forced the creation of a new generation of ventilation solutions for surgery rooms.
The so far existing critical (sterile) zone often turns out to be too small (orthopedics, cardiosurgery, neurosurgery, transplantology). The need to accommodate large medical technology systems, such as the angiographs, inevitably “pushes” personnel and sterile instruments outside, to distant zones that are not properly protected. Designing larger laminar diffusers in the ceiling also becomes problematic – because the ceiling is already packed up with hanging beams and ceiling-mounted systems.
The controlled dilution technology (controlled air mixing) by Halton, which is one of the key pillars in the Clean Capsule operating room solution, combines the advantages of available ventilation solutions with the requirements of modern medicine. The high-speed air supply (0.4 m / s in key areas) ensures stable operation of the system, regardless of local heat gains from personnel and equipment.
The manageable, directional operation of air streams allows it to reach all areas of the operating room, regardless of obstacles in the form of surgical lamps, numerous monitors, columns, imaging equipment or surgical robots. In the case of hybrid, neurosurgical or orthopedic rooms, where specialized attachments or table tops with instruments often extend beyond the zone of the central laminar airflow, this is of particular importance. At the same time, limited mixing (induction) allows the air temperature to be equalized with the room air temperature before it reaches a height of 1.8 m. Thanks to this, the staff does not experience “draft” from the ventilation system.
Dedicated automation of the system, will not only adjust the amount of air to the room’s occupancy and procedures, but it will secure the proper cascade of pressures between the operating room and other rooms. That includes monitoring door opening: the number and duration of door opening during the ongoing surgery.
The system provides air protection for the entire room, leaving the central part of the ceiling free for medical technology installations – the air supply comes out of the diffusers located around the OR ceiling, which is only 60 cm wide, giving an absolute priority to installing medical devices right in places where they are most needed.