GasMedix introduces the NEW Medi Purge device. The Medi Purge is used to facilitate the nitrogen purge of medical gas systems during installation. Medi Purge screws directly to the rough-in of any medical gas outlet and provides a 1/4″ NPT fitting to introduce nitrogen or it can be used as a bleed port.

GasMedix introduces the first retrofit headwall option to the market. The new headwalls are suited for updating existing patient care areas without major construction. These headwall can be surface mounted over existing medical gas outlets, electrical outlets and nurse call. They are installed without opening up walls or ceilings. The turnover time for fitting a room with a complete new look that includes accessory rails is far less than standard construction. The final cost is less than standard construction.

A new trial installation is to take place at Jewish Hospital in Cincannati Ohio starting November 1st 2007

Trumpf announced that GasMedix will represent their entire line of OR tables, booms and surgical lights in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and the Cincinnati area of Ohio. This makes GasMedix the exclusive dealer for these products in these areas. GasMedix has also become an authorized service partner for the Trumpf products.

LED (light-emitting diode) surgical lights installed. GasMedix installs a new LED light head in a surgical suite at Baptist Hospital Northeast in La Grange. Three operating suites at Baptist Hospital Northeast last week are the first installed in Kentucky and represent the latest technology in surgical suite lighting.

“The lights we replaced were installed when the hospital was built more than 20 years ago and we could no longer get parts for them,” said Barbara Ritchie, director of Surgical Services and Ambulatory Care at Baptist Northeast. “We tried several different kinds of lights during the last few months and the physicians chose the LED lights because they produce better, brighter light and use less energy.”

The LED lights offer several advantages over halogen or gas discharge bulbs traditionally used in surgical lighting, which mean greater visibility and comfort for the surgeon, decreased energy and replacement costs, and potentially could mean better outcomes for surgery patients:

• The LED lights produce almost no heat - less than two degrees - reducing the cooling needs in the room and increasing the surgeon’s comfort. This also allows better control of the patient’s temperature, which helps in prevention of surgical wound infections.
• The color of the light can be changed from a more yellow light to a more white light to improve visibility, to better suit the part of the body being operated on and wound depth.
• The light produced by the LED lights also increases visibility and causes less eye strain. The light output of lights is 130,000 and 160,000 lux (the measurement of light intensity falling on a surface), more intense than the 100,000 lux of full sunlight.
• Each surgical suite has two pod lights, a three-pod and a five-pod light. The three-pod light contains 111 separate LED light sources; the five-pod light contains 184. Together, they use 295 watts of electricity, less than three 100-watt household bulbs. The lights replaced used 750-1,000 watts of electricity.
• Each of the LED units is currently rated for a service life of more than 20,000 hours, the equivalent of being on for eight hours per day for nearly seven years.
• The use of so many different sources of light also dramatically reduces the shadows experienced in the surgical field, improving the view of the surgeon.
• With the touch of a button from within the surgical field, the surgeon can control the color, amount and direction of light.

The LED surgical lights produce better, brighter light and use less energy than traditional surgical lights.”The LED type of light gives us a much truer color and has much more versatility as far as decreasing shadows in the patient’s wound,” said Thomas Hart, M.D., a general surgeon who was instrumental in choosing the LED lights. “It will also increase surgeon comfort because it burns much cooler (than the standard lights).”

The LED lights are manufactured by Trumpf and were installed by GasMedix on July 10 and 11.

[Source: Baptist Hospital Northeast]

Baptist Hospital Northeast in La Grange has installed LED surgical lights in its three operating suites. The hospital said they are the first such lights installed in a Kentucky hospital. Read more…

160,000 lux of illumination from iLED surgery lights. Even with the high illumination capability, the iLED surgery light emits very little heat. When standing directly under the lamp, no heat can be felt.

New operating room lighting systems are now available. The traditional WaveLens technology provided by Steris is being replaced in the OR with iLED Trumpf lights with new LED technology.

The output power of this array is in excess of 160,000 lux. The LED array is composed of both white emitting and color emitting LEDs. This gives the surgeon more control over the color and contrast of the surgical area. The LED technology provides a new type of illumination, free from shadows and glare.

LEDs have distinct advantages over the traditional gas discharge and halogen lamps used in surgical lighting over the past fifty years. The adaptive color emission capabilities of LED arrays give the surgeon control over the color and contrast of tissues and blood that has not been possible until now.