A new microwave applicator for laparoscopic and robotic liver resection.

PURPOSE: Bleeding from parenchyma transection during a robotic hepatic surgery remains the most critical point affecting postoperative recovery and long-term survival. Various robotic devices with different types of energies have been proposed; however, each of these lack in steerability, efficacy, or accuracy. The aim of this work is to evaluate the feasibility and performance of a new steerable microwave resection device intended for minimizing intraoperative blood loss during laparoscopic and robotic liver resections. METHODS: The new device operating at 2.45 GHz was designed to accommodate the engineering constraints derived from its use for robotic surgery or laparoscopy, in which a steerable head is required and the internal cooling of forced gas or water is undesirable. The device design, analysis, and optimization were addressed using the most advanced commercial electromagnetic and thermal solvers to achieve the best results. To experimentally validate the results of the numerical analysis, many ablations were performed on a freshly explanted bovine liver by using a single device prototype with three levels of energy supplied to the tissue. During the ablation procedures, the time, temperature, and shape of the thermal lesion were recorded using thermocouples and an infra-red thermos camera. SUMMARY: Ex vivo tests showed good agreement with the numerical simulations, demonstrating the validity of the simplifications adopted to deal with the complex phenomena involved in the extreme hyperthermia of a living tissue. The high performance, thermal reliability, and robustness of the developed device were also demonstrated along with the possibility of reducing operation time and blood loss.

A Mechatronic Platform for Computer Aided Detection of Nodules in Anatomopathological Analyses via Stiffness and Ultrasound Measurements.

This study presents a platform for ex-vivo detection of cancer nodules, addressing automation of medical diagnoses in surgery and associated histological analyses. The proposed approach takes advantage of the property of cancer to alter the mechanical and acoustical properties of tissues, because of changes in stiffness and density. A force sensor and an ultrasound probe were combined to detect such alterations during force-regulated indentations. To explore the specimens, regardless of their orientation and shape, a scanned area of the test sample was defined using shape recognition applying optical background subtraction to the images captured by a camera. The motorized platform was validated using seven phantom tissues, simulating the mechanical and acoustical properties of ex-vivo diseased tissues, including stiffer nodules that can be encountered in pathological conditions during histological analyses. Results demonstrated the platform's ability to automatically explore and identify the inclusions in the phantom. Overall, the system was able to correctly identify up to 90.3% of the inclusions by means of stiffness in combination with ultrasound measurements, paving pathways towards robotic palpation during intraoperative examinations.

Integrated HTA-FMEA/FMECA methodology for the evaluation of robotic system in urology and general surgery.

OBJECTIVES: The following study proposes and tests an integrated methodology involving Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) for the assessment of specific aspects related to robotic surgery involving safety, process and technology. METHODS: The integrated methodology consists of the application of specific techniques coming from the HTA joined to the aid of the most typical models from reliability engineering such as FMEA/FMECA. The study has also included in-site data collection and interviews to medical personnel. RESULTS: The total number of robotic procedures included in the analysis was 44: 28 for urology and 16 for general surgery. The main outcomes refer to the comparative evaluation between robotic, laparoscopic and open surgery. Risk analysis and mitigation interventions come from FMECA application. CONCLUSIONS: The small sample size available for the study represents an important bias, especially for the clinical outcomes reliability. Despite this, the study seems to confirm the better trend for robotics' surgical times with comparison to the open technique as well as confirming the robotics' clinical benefits in urology. More complex situation is observed for general surgery, where robotics' clinical benefits directly measured are the lowest blood transfusion rate.

Development of a web based monitoring system for safety and activity analysis in operating theatres.

BACKGROUND: The management and the monitoring of the operating rooms on the part of the general management have the objective of optimizing their use and maximizing the internal safety. The expenses owed to their safe use represent, besides reimbursements coming from the surgical activity, important factors for the analysis of the medical facility. OBJECTIVE: Given that it is not possible to reduce the safety, it is necessary to develop supporting systems with the aim to enhance and optimize the use of the rooms. METHODS: The developed analysis model of the operating rooms in this study is based on the specific performance indicators and allows the effective monitoring of both the parameters that influence the safety (environmental, microbiological parameters) and those that influence the efficiency of the usage (employment rate, delays, necessary formalities, etc.). This allows you to have a systematic dashboard on hand for all of the OTs and, thus, organize the intervention schedules and more appropriate improvements. RESULTS: A monitoring dashboard has been achieved, accessible from any platform and any device, capable of aggregating hospital information. The undertaken organizational modifications, through the use of the dashboard, have allowed for an average annual savings of 29.52 minutes per intervention and increase the use of the ORs of 5%. The increment of the employment rate and the optimization of the operating room have allowed for savings of around $299,88 for every intervention carried out in 2013, corresponding to an annual savings of $343,362,60. CONCLUSIONS: Integration dashboards, as the one proposed in this study as a prototype, represent a governance model of economically sustainable healthcare systems capable of guiding the hospital management in the choices and in the implementation of the most efficient organizational modifications.

Development of sustainable models for technology evaluation in hospital.

BACKGROUND: This paper reports the development of standard techniques for technology evaluation in hospital carried out at the Florence Teaching Hospital Careggi (AOUC), where, as a complex system, the technological evaluation is a strategic and essential element for the maintenance of high-quality clinical activity and maximization of available resources. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper has been the development of a system of economically sustainable models for the implementation of HTA and HS analyses in the hospital environment as well as presenting, in addition to a valid scientific resilience, the methodological and temporary flexibility to satisfy needs of hospital decision-makers. METHODS: The evaluation models call for 3 main phases: an initial analysis of the in-hospital request, a collection of data, and finally a draft of a specific, easily usable set of reports. RESULTS: Three standardized and tested models of evaluation were developed, which, in relation to the objective of the request and schedule of the assignment, provide for the production of a speedy report (1-week), an intermediate report (1-month), or a extensive report typical of classical studies of hospital based HTA (1-year). It is then related to the evaluation model of the IORT (Intra-Operative Radiation Therapy) technology. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION: The developed models have permitted the construction, using personnel and laboratories within the hospital, of an evaluation system reliable and responsive to the HOSPITAL's temporary needs based on the HS and HTA analyses in the hospital environment. Regarding the applicable case of IORT, this has shown how in-hospital requests have been satisfied in the preset time: although it establishes expected improvements on the social effect and weight of the illness and reveals a high territorial strategic relevance, the introduction of IORT in the hospital presents some criticalities on the impact on the healthcare organization and the necessity of specific training of medical technologist personnel.