Surgery performed at Health Center seen “live” in Brazil

Having a handful of people looking on as a surgeon performs an operation is nothing unusual, but one recent morning at the Health Center, orthopedic surgeons Drs. Robert Arciero and Augustus Mazzocca had more than 200 people watching as they performed a routine shoulder instability repair.

Thanks to a two-way interactive video feed, medical professionals attending an international orthopedics conference in São Paulo, Brazil were able to see the surgery live and ask questions during the procedure.

The video communications department at the Health Center orchestrated the complex undertaking, which included spending dozens of hours working with a production crew in Brazil.

“Our phone bill will probably be a bit higher this month,” predicts William Hengstenberg, director of video communications.

“The biggest obstacle was the language barrier,” he adds.

“The translator knew the basics, but had a hard time with the technical terms we use in video production, so we had to find simpler ways of describing what we needed.”

The Health Center has gained a national reputation for its video production capabilities, which include video teleconferencing and distance education, as well as live and archived on-demand video web streaming. Hospitals from all over the region use its facilities for video production.

“The organizers of this international conference could have asked any hospital to do this, but they know we can do it and we’ll do a good job,” says Hengstenberg.

Three cameras were strategically placed in an already crowded operating room in order to provide a birds-eye view of the procedure.

A director’s booth, complete with monitors and control panel, was set up along one side of the room.

Along with the usual operating room staff, at least a half dozen production crew members delicately maneuvered around the room trying to avoid the sterile, blue cloth-draped tables.