Innovation spotlight: New innovations enhance Kentucky healthcare
Improving Operations
This past July Norton Audubon Hospital, Louisville, opened a hybrid operating room, which combines minimally invasive and interventional surgical technologies with medical imaging and communications in one operating room.
In the past, interventional procedures were done in separate rooms from medical imaging. That potentially meant trouble for patients undergoing minimally invasive procedures since it took time to transfer patients to operating rooms, or to assemble surgical support teams and wheel in open procedure equipment. With a hybrid room a full range of interventional, imaging and surgical services are located all in one place, which helps doctors save critical time because they can diagnose and perform vascular procedures in the same suite.
Dr. Thomas Klamer, Norton Vascular Associates, which is part of Norton Healthcare, Louisville, Ky., explained that the hybrid room allows doctors to do multiple procedures simultaneously. For example, if during a leg surgery one leg needs a bypass while another may be a candidate for a stent both can be treated at the same time in the same room. “We can use the room for open vascular surgery and endovascular surgery,” Klamer said. “This is so much better for the patient since you can accomplish multiple things in the course of one operation within the same setting.”
Klamer sees hybrid rooms becoming more prevalent. “I can’t imagine someone building a hospital with vascular surgery and not putting one in,” he said.
Inspiring Our Future Doctors
This past June middle and high school students visiting the Louisville Science Center viewed live heart surgeries and interacted with surgical teams as part of a project that seeks to boost interest in medical careers and promote healthy lifestyles among young people. The Greater Louisville Medical Society (GLMS) and Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare collaborated with the Louisville Science Center to establish this new educational program called Pulse of Surgery, which is officially slated to launch this winter.
The program will offer physicians the opportunity to recruit new minds to the medical profession. “The program will invigorate the minds of students as they witness a surgical team ‘live’ saving a life during open heart surgery. These young students are our future doctors, nurses and healthcare workers and the ground work laid today in their minds will lead to innovations in the future,” said Marty Bonick, president and CEO, Jewish Hospital Medical Plaza.
In the first year, a minimum of 12 surgeries are expected to be broadcast live from Jewish Hospital, to students from Kentucky and southern Indiana at the Science Center. Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Mark Slaughter will be the lead surgeon performing heart surgery “live” from the operating room. “Not only will the program give middle and high school kids an opportunity to talk live with our OR team and discover possible career paths in the healthcare field, but it gives them an opportunity to see firsthand the results of how lifestyle choices and heredity impact the human heart,” said Slaughter, who is professor of surgery and chief of the division of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at UofL and director of the Heart Transplant and Mechanical Assist Device program at Jewish Hospital, and associate medical director of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute.
New Wheelchair Technology
The next generation of wheelchair technology found a home in Louisville. In July 2008 Turbo Wheelchair relocated to Louisville from Beaufort, S.C., after receiving a $750,000 SBIR matching grant from the Commonwealth of Kentucky to develop a child's wheelchair (The company has almost completed a prototype and hopes to have a market launch in mid 2011.) In the meantime, Turbo Wheelchair Co., Inc., has produced and distributed the Merlexi CrafT series of colorful, durable, plastic manual wheelchairs made of molded synthetic, which it markets to the healthcare and recreational markets. The Merlexi CraftT series was awarded the Best New Product Award for Services/Equipment and Supplies at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions' Expo 2009.
“When you think about the traditional wheelchair, its sling seat design and tubular metal construction really have not changed or improved since the days of FDR,” said Dr. Jane Hermes, president, Turbo Wheelchair Co. “We are delighted to be developing the next generation of wheelchairs in Louisville using synthetic resin to provide a revolutionary line of colorful, durable, plastic manual wheelchairs. We think about the caregiver and medical worker when designing and manufacturing our wheelchairs – making our products lightweight for ease of transport, providing ergonomic handles for caregiver comfort, developing wheels that stay in line so the chair is easy to push, and ensuring our products are easy to clean.”
High Level Diagnostic Imaging
In February 2010, Central Baptist Hospital, Lexington, Ky., acquired the Siemens Biograph mCT, an integrated device that offers both whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) as well as computed tomography (CT). Central Baptist is the first hospital in Kentucky to have this technology, which is the highest level of diagnostic imaging available today. Only 50 other hospitals in the United States offer Biograph mCT.
PET has become an essential diagnostic tool for physicians in a variety of disciplines. For neurology patients, PET can reveal abnormal patterns in the brain and can differentiate among dementia disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Huntingdon’s disease. In cardiology patients, PET provides the highest accuracy level of any noninvasive cardiac test, offering insights into blood flow and heart muscle function. In cancer patients, PET is used to diagnose, stage and restage (determine the extent of) cancer as well as to evaluate the patient’s response to therapy.
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