The organisation
Alder Hey is one of Europe's-largest children's hospitals, caring for 275,000 young people and their families every year.
Following its centenary in 2014, the Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust began planning a move to what will become one of the UK’s most-digitally-advanced hospitals.
The aim is to continue delivering world-class children’s healthcare for years to come, and to build a facility from the ground up with technology at its core.
In October 2015 the hospital moved to its new state-of-the-art facility – Alder Hey in the Park. The new site boasts 270 beds in total, including those for intensive care, high dependency, and burns patients, as well as 16 operating theatres, 13 of which are fitted with the latest Sony surgical monitor and room camera technology.
The challenge
In the new operating theatres Alder Hey needed to create an environment that used the latest digital technologies to both aid clinicians and to enhance overall patient care, ensuring a holistic approach to healthcare and wellbeing.
In the ORs, this meant a visual solution that would provide exceptional image quality for surgeons during all types of procedures, helping to ensure each operation’s safety and success. The hospital also needed a way to live stream surgeries and record them for future educational opportunities.
Throughout the wards, the hospital wanted to continue its all-encompassing approach to the wellbeing of its patients, drawing on the latest technologies to relax and distract its patients. This required entertainment solutions that would help to reduce anxiety in both parents and children alike.
Together, the new solutions needed to support patient care and further the hospital’s ambitious goal of becoming a world-class healthcare campus.
The solution
Supporting surgical teams during a wide range of procedures, 13 of the hospital’s new ORs are now equipped with a pair of Sony’s 27ins LMD-2765MD surgical monitors on a boom arm.
Designed with endoscopic surgery, ophthalmology, surgical microscopy, neurology and open surgery in mind; the monitors have been installed to provide surgeons with clear, full HD images while operating. Each OR also features a 43-inch professional BRAVIA display, as an additional visual aid to all those working in these integrated theatres.
In order to provide a complete overview of every operation, the ORs also include a Sony SRG-300SE pan-tilt-zoom video camera mounted to the ceiling. Sony’s View-DR technology means the cameras benefit from an expanded dynamic range, helping to ensure high-quality images even in the harsh lighting of a surgical environment. Thanks to the camera’s Full HD imaging capabilities and 12x digital zoom, procedures can be reviewed afterwards, clearly and in close detail.
Any footage captured in ORs - either by an SRG-300SE or endoscopic camera - can also be shown in other areas of the hospital via the hospital network, thanks to a third-party system called Nucleus. The system allows the captured video to be showed on any required monitor or display within any OR – creating an opportunity for surgeons to consult their colleagues during complicated procedures in a seamless and timely manner. This solution also allows footage to be broadcast live to lecture rooms both inside and outside the hospital, or stored for future reference, to support educational training.
The result
During surgical procedures, the exceptional contrast levels, accurate colour reproduction, and high resolution of the 27ins BRAVIA displays provide surgeons with a detail-rich view of the surgical area, helping them to successfully perform a variety of intricate procedures. The 43-inch BRAVIA displays then provide further visual aid, allowing the surgical team to closely track the operation’s progress.
The combination of SRG-300 cameras and the Nucleus system mean that clinicians anywhere in the world can either view procedures in real time or watch recordings at a later date, helping to cement the hospital’s position as a leading educational facility.
The digital aquarium draws on a combination of exceptional display technology and touch-screen capability to provide a one-of-a-kind patient distraction solution in Europe. The result is an interactive experience that provides an entertaining distraction and helps to alleviate some of the stress that both children and parents experience prior to their procedures.
Similarly, the Xperia Tablets and BRAVIA TVs help children and their families to feel more at home and relax, a vital part of the healing process.
The future
In the future, Alder Hey, through its Innovation Hub led by Iain Hennessey, consultant paediatric surgeon and clinical lead for innovation at Alder Hey – will continue to measure the impact projects like the Digital Aquarium have on patient distraction while exploring additional technologies with Sony, including 4K imaging in surgery, wearable devices, and advanced presentation solutions for education.
Hennessey said: “At Alder Hey we are open to exploring new ideas and technologies to improve the care of our patients.
“We have created an innovative hospital and it is fitting that within that we have made space for a research and innovation hub where our scientists and clinicians can freely collaborate with external experts and companies to incubate new ideas, develop and test them and then share the results.
“Our ongoing work with Sony is really stimulating for everyone involved, and our co-location within a busy hospital means that we can constantly gain input from our key customers; the children and young people.”
Ludger Philippsen, head of Sony Healthcare Solutions Europe, added: “Alder Hey Children’s Hospital has long been a centre of excellence for paediatric healthcare, and the move to this facility marks the beginning of a new and even-more-innovative chapter in its story.
“Sony has a broad range of experience and technologies, and we were proud to provide imaging solutions that would both assist clinical work and help to lift the spirits of the hospital’s young patients and their families for years to come.
The operating facility is now one of the most-technologically-advanced medical environments globally, and will stand apart as a trailblazer for next-generation paediatric care. We are looking forward to future collaboration opportunities as we continue to work with the hospital”
Product list
In the operating rooms
- 26 x LMD-2765MD 27ins surgical monitors
- 13 x SRG-300SE pan-tilt-zoom cameras
- 13 x FW-43X8370C 43ins BRAVIA
Around the hospital:
- 20 x 65ins 4K B2B displays in the atrium
- 20 x 32ins Sony BRAVIA Consumer TVs around the hospital
- 300 x 43ins Sony screens
- 3 x 75ins BRAVIA Professional Displays for their digital aquarium
