ThermAffyx both securely positions and warms patients during robot-assisted surgeries. Source: Gentherm

Many healthcare advances come from within that industry, but innovations from other industries can also find a role. Gentherm Medical has designed its ThermAffyx Patient Safety System based on thermal management experience from the automotive industry.

The system both securely positions a patient and provides patient warming for robot-assisted surgery. Gentherm Inc. said ThermAffyx does both while minimizing the amount of space required and without the need for forced-air equipment.

The Novi, Mich.-based company launched the system at the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) Global Surgical Conference this year. Gentherm noted that numerous medical professionals told it that “almost all of their robotics patients are hypothermic.”

Adam Hauke, global director for product strategy and innovation at Gentherm, replied to the following questions from The Robot Report.

What is the challenge that ThermAffyx addresses, and how are patient positioning and hypothermia handled conventionally?

Hauke: The ThermAffyx Patient Safety System combines active patient warming and secure positioning into a single solution, helping address two critical perioperative challenges: maintaining normothermia and reducing patient movement during surgery.

The current standard of care consists of forced-air warming solutions and a securement pad. Historically, warming and positioning have been addressed independently because, in many surgical procedures, they do not significantly interfere with one another. However, that’s not the case in most robotic-assisted surgeries.

These procedures frequently require patients to remain in Trendelenburg positioning, where the body is tilted head-down to provide surgical access to the pelvis and lower abdomen.

Source link