Understand the need to decide on the workflow of the surgical process and also the surgeon operating position. The orientation of the surgeon's operating position plays an important role when come to setup design for each piece of operating device and structures that hold the surgical lights, service pendants, monitor screen, etc.
Fig 2
The pictures above (Fig 1) and (Fig 2) show the design plans for the surgical lights and the service pendants. The surgical lights are position at the centre of the operating room. The centre stem holds and supports two main surgical light structures each with a monitor screen. This is a setup for four articulating arms with two rotating axes - one set for the first surgical lights with a monitor and the second set of axis for the second surgical light with the second monitor.
Notice that the circular movements for the articulating arms are an important factor determining a well-planned design so much so that they don't end up fighting for space where the needs arise during the surgery. Next we look at the height of the ceiling below (Fig 3) if there are sufficient space for the surgical lights, pendants, video camera, etc. Depending on the number of stacks/articulating arms to be installed, this ultimately affect the minimum height requirements for the installation.
Fig 3
Next we planned the pendant position where the anaesthesia system would likely be stationed. The other pendants would be for the surgical equipment like the electrosurgical unit, aspirator, physiologic monitor, etc.
Fig 3 - Ceiling Height
Once the design has been firmed up, we need to cater for most important aspects of safety and that is the structural reinforcement of the current or new site where steel structure supports the weight of each piece of installation within the operating site, i.e, the ceiling structure.
Don't forget the next most important part within the operating theatre is also the airflow system. Ensure number of air exchange are not affected by the new installation.
Finally, consider the need to connect up the gases - oxygen, medical air, nitrous oxide, vacuum, gas scavenging, carbon dioxide, the electrical socket, equipotential point, and the LAN point.
