Background Technical progress in the operating room (OR) increases constantly, but
advanced techniques for error prevention are lacking. It has been the vision to create …

Background Optimization of OR management is a complex problem as each OR has
different procedures throughout the day inevitably resulting in scheduling delays, variations …

Background Safe surgical care requires effective information transfer between members of
the operating room (OR) team. The present study aims to assess directly, systematically, and …

Object The operating room is rich in digital data that must be rapidly gathered and integrated
by caregivers, potentially distracting them from direct patient care. We hypothesized that …

Major gains in patient safety can be achieved through development of innovative
approaches to the care of surgical patients. Investigators and clinicians have conceived an …

Implementation of information technologies in anesthesia as well as in all aspects of
healthcare redesigns how patients receive care. AIMS accurately measure, store, query, and …

Background A key part of surgical workflow recording is recognition of the instrument in use.
We present a radiofrequency identification (RFID)-based approach for real-time tracking of …

Automatic identification technologies, such as bar coding and radio frequency identification,
are ubiquitous in everyday life but virtually nonexistent in the operating room. User …

IN THIS ISSUE OF SURGERY, Dr Carl Fabian 1 describes the potential use of electronic
article surveillance (EAS) to detect retained sponges; this technology is used every day in …

Information technology has the potential to provide a tremendous step forward in
perioperative patient safety. Through automated delivery of information through fixed and …