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Care, Surgical Education
 Minimally invasive surgical suites feature state-of-the-art technology. Below: Daniel Jones, M.D. oversees Ben Schneider, M.D., surgical fellow, in the Technical Skills and Simulation Lab |
The operating room of the
future is taking shape now at BIDMC as the Center for Minimally Invasive
Surgery brings the newest advanced laparoscopic techniques to Boston.
Directed
by Daniel B. Jones, M.D., F.A.C.S, the new Center will be the
most comprehensive educational and research facility for advanced laparoscopic
surgery in New England. Jones, section chief of minimally invasive surgical
services at BIDMC, is a national authority on laparoscopic surgery.
BIDMC physicians have long performed and pioneered minimally invasive
surgical procedures. “The Center’s opening underscores BIDMC’s
commitment to advancing minimally invasive surgical techniques and facilitating
multidisciplinary collaboration,” says Jones. “We have based
a large number of programs in many divisions on a minimally invasive
approach,” adds Josef E. Fischer, M.D., chairman of the
department of surgery at BIDMC and Mallinckrodt Professor of Surgery
at Harvard Medical School (HMS). “Dr. Jones and his team provide
the glue that holds all those activities together.”
Minimally invasive surgery has become the preferred approach for certain
types of major surgery that previously involved large incisions. This
new surgery requires only “keyhole” incisions ranging between
five and 10 millimeters in length. Minimal blood loss, less postoperative
pain, faster recuperation and shorter hospital stays are among the potential
benefits. Currently laparoscopic procedures are offered for some types
of gastrointestinal, endovascular, cardiothoracic, neurosurgical, gynecological,
urological and transplant surgery.
Next month the Center will host a postgraduate course preceding the
American Society for Bariatric Surgery annual conference in Boston.
The world’s top laparoscopic surgeons will teach approximately
100 bariatric surgeons the latest in adjustable gastric banding techniques.
Jones will perform two cases, transmitted live to observers in a conference
room. Designed for patients with morbid obesity, this technique was
recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration and, until Jones’s
arrival, was not readily available in Boston.
In support of the new Center, BIDMC is ready to open this month three
state-of-the-art minimally invasive operating rooms. Equipped with flat
screen technology and ceiling booms, the voice-activated suites feature
special cameras, scopes, lighting and digitally-enhanced equipment.
Jones and his team have also assembled an unprecedented collection of
simulators and flat screen video trainers that are greatly impacting
surgical education.
The Technical Skills and Simulation Lab’s virtual reality simulators
provide doctors with hands-on training in a classroom setting, allowing
them to develop the hand-eye coordination needed to perform surgery
from a 2D monitor. Physicians can practice endoscopy and basic skills,
and perform simulated procedures.
The Center’s technology plays an integral role in the curriculum
Jones has developed for HMS students and residents from BIDMC and Boston’s
other teaching hospitals. “Our endosuites are wired to transmit
operative images to a teleconferencing center in the lab so students
can easily view the surgical procedure,” Jones explains. “Surgeons
in the OR can speak with students, residents and others interested in
the procedure.”