surgical.txt
Updated on November 24, 1997
November 19, 1997
MEMORANDUM
To: William G. Luttge, Ph.D.
From: Richard Rathe, M.D.
Subj: Modifications to the Surgical Teaching Area
For the sake of continuity, I have prepared the following checklist of
items related to the surgical teaching area.
*I believe the coaxial surgical lights/cameras are a good idea,
however, with more equipment hanging from the ceiling, we need to be
careful we don't disrupt the line of sight for the video monitors.
* Each pedestal will need wiring for at least one video source, such
as a microscope or endoscope. Wiring also needs to be provided for any remote
control circuits we plan to have. I believe our most recent design called
for local control of both a VCR and an AB(C?) video switch.
* Our original design envisioned a master control console from
which a technician could control the entire room. In view of the need for
local control expressed by the surgical instructors, I'll raise the question whether such an extensive master control system is
actually necessary. For example, the VCR for each station could be mounted
directly under the local monitor. This would eliminate the need for some
of the remote control circuitry. The control console might be reduced to a
rack of AV equipment near the instructor's station and a infra-red remote
control which would allow the instructor to force all the monitors in the
room to display an image from any station, the instructor's station,
archival tape, or computer.
* We need to ensure that the fluoroscopy equipment can be
integrated into the overall video system. I have already mentioned to the
architect the need for video wiring near the source of power for the four
fluoroscopes. We also need to ensure that when this equipment is purchased
it includes the optional NTSC video interfaces.
* I noticed that the plans we worked with yesterday still included
a large screen and ceiling-mounted projection system. I believe that these
were dropped from the design some time ago. We plan to use the
16 monitors already in the room for this type of instruction.
* We also need designate the "master" teaching station that will be used by the instructor. This site will need special controls, including cutoff switches for the microscope lights and suction. We should also consider putting a mic on the instructor with some sort of push to talk system to allow him/her to address the entire class.
* It's worth raising the issue of resolution in the context of this
classroom. As we discovered on our SGI visit, there are several higher
resolution analog video options available today. We
may want to wire the room in anticipation of future upgrades even if we
choose to use standard composite or S video initially. It would be useful
to know if any of the video sources (surgical lights with coaxial cameras,
endoscopes, fluoroscopes, etc.) actually generate higher resolution signals.