The Hamburg-based hospital Ev. Amalie Sieveking-Krankenhaus is home to Europe’s most modern high-tech operating room. With high-tech support from Olympus a European reference centre for minimally invasive surgery techniques was implemented. It acts as an exemplary operating room in which visitors are given a direct insight into the functions and medical technology advantages.

The stunning design is the first thing to strike you: blue glazed walls frame the state-of-the-art operating room, with two large windows providing additional daylight. At a second glance, it is the sophisticated technology that makes you stop and stare! For example, digitalised X-ray images and endoscopy findings can be directly transmitted to the surgeons' screens. Live links to other hospitals, practices or to national and international congresses can also be set up at any time.

Technology: EndoALPHA

The new operating room features the EndoALPHA system: this pioneering technology allows operating procedures in the Ev. Amalie Sieveking-Krankenhaus to be optimally planned. In the future, video and audio links to other departments in the Ev. Amalie Sieveking-Krankenhaus can be created – e.g. to the gastroenterology and radiology departments. The high-tech facility also includes the HDTV 1080 standard.

As Dr. Thomas E. Langwieler, head of surgery at the Ev. Amalie Sieveking-Krankenhaus, explained, “The use of high-resolution HDTV camera systems together with NBI (Narrow Band Imaging) allows even the smallest of changes in the stomach or breast to be detected when performing tumour operations.”

The risk of tripping on cables lying on the floor is also a thing of the past in the new high-tech operating room – the devices can be easily and quickly put into the optimal position for each operation, thus providing maximum freedom of movement. The glazed walls are not only a visual highlight; they also mean that the room can be cleaned more quickly and effectively.