Pius-Hospital investigates OR of the future

In the research project Smart-OT (“Intelligent Operating Theatre”), research is being conducted into how new, so-called smart lighting and control concepts, which are to be interactively and holistically linked with one another, can provide more quality, safety, ergonomics and efficiency in surgical procedures. The aim is to reduce the workload of OR staff and thus ultimately increase patient safety. To this end, demonstrators are tested in simulation operations in the most realistic environment possible.

For this purpose, the team of the Pius Hospital under the direction of Prof. Dr. Dirk Weyhe, Director of the University Clinic for Visceral Surgery, is building a laboratory especially designed for such research questions, in which operations can be simulated and workflows in the operating theatre can be investigated. Besides the Pius-Hospital, the companies Dr. Mach GmbH & Co. KG (project leader), Qioptiq GmbH & Co. KG and KIZMO GmbH are involved in the project. In addition, the University of Bremen participates with the working groups for Digital Media and for Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality. The project runs until September 2021 and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) with 1.2 million euros. At the end of last year, the initiators entered the intensive project phase in the form of a kick-off event.