Why does an operating Theatre have to have a high light intensity?

For patients preparing for examination or surgery, surgery lights may not be the primary consideration. However, the correct examination or surgical lights in the operating room can bring many benefits to patients and medical staff. In this article we will dive into the topic of the surgical light.

The following knowledge points are listed below:

• The Health Effects of Light on Patients and Medical Staff

• How Lighting Needs Can Affect a Medical Center's Budget

• Benefits of Effective Surgical Lighting

1. The Health Effects of Light on Patients and Medical Staff

Patients who come to your medical facility may not only feel uncomfortable, but they are also likely to be dealing with tensions related to their upcoming surgery. The quantity and quality of light affect emotions far more than emotions.

When the correct type and amount of light enters the eye, it not only enables vision, but also spreads the light to the hypothalamus, which controls the body's blood pressure, water balance, hunger and thirst, and body temperature. However, light also affects the pituitary gland, which is responsible for secreting important hormones, such as those that affect mood and stress levels.

For medical staff and surgeons, the correct lighting can help improve morale and productivity, reduce errors, and greatly reduce absenteeism.

2. How Lighting Needs Can Affect a Medical Center's Budget

Although lighting may be a low-cost project and may not be the first item on the list of equipment required for a facility, wrong lighting may mean loss of time and money. Insufficient lighting will require frequent adjustments, which will take up operating time and will also increase unnecessary stress on surgeons and medical staff.

Not only that, every minute spent adjusting the inspection or lighting in the operating room will also translate into a waste of expensive operating time. When most of the time in the operating room needs to be spent adjusting the lighting angle and intensity of each operation, the annual loss can be as high as thousands of dollars.

3. Benefits of Effective Surgical Lighting

When the lamps sold in the operating room are of high quality, the light can be transmitted to the task area with high intensity, but there is no shadow or glare. This is absolutely necessary for surgeons, who not only need to be able to see but also accurately explain the condition of blood vessels, tissues and organs.

Effective surgical lighting enables surgeons to use their most important tools and their eyes in the most accurate and effective way possible.

(1) Correct lighting

The correct lighting of any medical facility should ensure accurate assessment of patients during examinations and operating rooms, and should also have appropriate characteristics to ensure health, including reducing eye fatigue.

(2) Light behavior

High-quality surgical lighting will consider the characteristics of light and its behavior. For example, tissues are non-reflective and dark, which means that any light on them will be absorbed. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to provide products with strong light, no glare and shadows.

The correct intensity of glare-free lighting will enable surgeons and teams to obtain high-intensity lighting of the surgical site, but will not cause eye fatigue and fatigue during work. Similarly, shadowless surgical lighting will allow light to reach deeper areas of the surgical site for further inspection and evaluation.

(3) Quality, not quantity

A lot of light does not mean that its quality is correct. In the operating room, too much light will only cause glare and eye fatigue. Instead, the focus should be on providing the correct amount of light without increasing brightness.

Color temperature and color difference

In surgery, the optimal light temperature is between 4000 and 4500 Kelvin. However, surgeons may require temperatures above 4500K. The ability to incrementally control this range will allow accurate determination of the area of assessment and incision.

(4) Operating light installation assistant

A lower color temperature will give a yellow appearance, which will greatly reduce the contrast and make the tissue look faded. However, the high color temperature simulates the sun, providing the necessary contrast to distinguish structures and tissues and determine their health.

That's why there should be operating lights in the operating room.