Sony Medical offers its comprehensive video chain to view surgical processes in 4K

“4K technology is the next step to improve images during surgical interventions”, notes John Herman, European Marketing Manager, Surgical Solutions, Sony Medical, while explaining the advances that ultra high definition represents in this environment.

Standard definition videos (SD) provided surgeons with a 680-degree image×480 pixels, although in the last eight years hospitals have progressively migrated to high definition video (Full HD), offering sharper images than 1920×1.080 pixels.

As John Herman points out, European Marketing Manager for Surgical Use Solutions Sony Medical, “If we had asked a surgeon if he would be willing to go back and give up HD, I would have responded with a blunt no.. “I would have argued that the standard definition no longer meets the requirements of standard care and could even pose a risk to the patient.”.

In the same way, The head of Sony Medical assures that surgeons will be ready to adopt 4K ultra high definition, “which provides a much sharper image, with a greater sensation of depth, which for surgeons means better differentiating blood vessels or other microscopic structures. In addition, gives them greater confidence in the diagnosis of what they are seeing, as well as in their movements and surgical actions. 4K also offers improved color gamut, that allows realistic colors to be reproduced”.

As with HD, The next generation of 4K images is created in a closed video chain from source to final result. In this way, in the operating room, the video signal is generated in the endoscope camera, that of the surgical microscope or camera mounted on a robot arm on the operating table for open surgery procedures.

“4K sources require four times the bandwidth to transmit the signal compared to HD. Standard video cables are not practical for transmitting 4K images efficiently, since four cables would be needed. To this end, we have designed a new platform capable of converting the video signal to IP format and transmitting 4K content through a single cable.”, Herman specifies.

Content can be sent anywhere in the hospital via LAN connection for sharing or storage. To see the image, The data is converted back to a video format and, although it can be played on any HD or 4K device, You can only see the original resolution and sharpness on a 4K monitor.

This integral chain is essential in the operating room, where no delays can occur in the processing chain, and it is precisely where Sony Medical brings the experience of its live broadcast department. “The surgeon who works with an endoscopic camera cannot have latency in the image,” says Herman.; otherwise, the movement of his hands while viewing the image would not be coordinated. Any visible delay would prevent the surgeon from carrying out the operation.".

At the moment, Sony Medical is the only company in the surgical imaging sector to provide all links in the 4K chain. “It is true that there is great competition for monitors or surgical recorders in the different segments - continues Herman -, but on the 4K network, from image acquisition to processing; from recording to viewing, our proposal is unique, with a full 4K workflow”.

In this sense, the company has been a pioneer in the development of 4K monitors for medical use and a 4K recording system for surgery. “Now we have just launched a 4K content management system on the market, and soon we will present our 4K video system over IP”, explains Herman while remembering that Sony is a world leader “in image sensors and image processing technology and the camera modules of many of the most used endoscopes are ours”.

One of the most notable features of the Sony 4K IP system is an open architecture designed based on industry standards and without patent requirements., giving hospitals the flexibility to connect any device or monitor.

Thanks to the infrastructure necessary for the conversion to Full HD, many hospitals are ready to share content from a server or content management system (CMS). Besides, the need for digital capabilities in other areas of the healthcare field, as in archiving systems, image transmission (PACS) and electronic records, means that most hospitals have a standardized IT infrastructure that supports video over IP.

There are two areas where converting to 4K presents challenges that should be considered for planning. Many hospitals already have difficulty planning to store HD video files, and with 4K these problems will get worse, as they can be up to four times larger than HD files.

Thanks to Sony's XAVC-S format, These 4K files may be downsized by a factor of three depending on image quality settings., which represents a significant saving in . costs derived from storage and hardware necessary for editing.

The next area is the operating room itself. While HD images pass through a video cable, Fiber optic cabling is an essential requirement for 4K to show the surgical procedure being performed in real time., which requires experience and special care.

Upgrading to 4K inside the operating room offers new opportunities for surgeons to access more information when they need it; Have the ability to share images from multiple sources, such as TAC or IMR of PACS systems, patient histories or preoperative data on a single large 4K monitor.

Beyond improving images for endoscopic surgery, Sony is collaborating with companies to study the potential of 4K technology in microsurgery. Due to the very precise work required in neurosurgery or ophthalmic surgery, surgeons spend a lot of time looking through a microscope. 4K camera module technology is compact enough to integrate inside the microscope to generate a sharp 4K image on a 4K surgical monitor, instead of looking through a binocular.