Intelligent operating theater: Technical details for information broadcasting and incident detection system

This paper introduces an intelligent operating theater equipped with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner and video recording and broadcasting system to enhance the quality of surgery. To reduce error, intraoperative incidents are detected and dealt with using semi-automatic computer algorithm. A multiple-channel video recording and broadcasting system was installed in an operating room and the surgical procedure was recorded. The supervising surgeon monitored the operation in real-time from outside the operating room. Information sharing via the intra-hospital network improved the work efficiency of staff. The amount of motion was estimated from recorded file size based on the principle of inter-frame video compression. A time period for which the file size significantly increased compared to those for neighboring time periods was chosen and the majority voting technique was applied to detect events using six channels of the video. A change in file size indicated a phase change of the surgical procedure. The proposed method is promising for future daily clinical procedure.