Operating room video integration: routing endoscopy, cameras and PACS to every screen

What an OR video integration system does

An operating room video integration system has three jobs: collect signals from sources, route them to destinations and give the team simple control. Sources include endoscopy towers, microscopes, room and light cameras, patient monitors and PACS or other image viewers. Destinations are wall and boom monitors, recorders, streaming encoders and remote rooms.

Without integration, each source is cabled to a fixed monitor, and changing what is displayed means moving cables or carts. With routing, any source can go to any screen, and layouts can be saved for each procedure.

Key building blocks

A typical operating room video integration system combines a signal matrix or network, a control interface, displays, recording and links to hospital systems. Modern designs increasingly move video as data over a network instead of dedicated cables.

OpenOR is an example: it is an operating room management and AV system that connects video and audio sources, medical devices and room functions such as lighting and ventilation, and shows them on monitors or info screens. Its open architecture allows devices from any manufacturer to be integrated, and the modular design lets a hospital start with the AV system and add features later.

• Sources: endoscopes, cameras, microscopes, PACS, patient monitors
• Routing: matrix or network that sends any source to any display
• Control: touch panel or tablet interface used by the circulating nurse
• Displays: wall, boom or ceiling-arm monitors
• Recording and streaming: recorders, encoders, telementoring links
• Connectivity: HIS, BMS and PACS integration

Sources: from light cameras to endoscopy

Light and room cameras provide the field view for teaching and documentation. SIMEON Sim.CAM cameras, for example, offer a 4K Wireless version with 3840 x 2160 resolution and HD versions at 1920 x 1080, and can be integrated into the light head or mounted separately. The Sim.CAM page lists the outputs.

Always list every source with its video format and connector, such as HDMI, DVI or SDI, before choosing a routing system, since mismatched formats are a common cause of delay at commissioning.

Network and 4K considerations

OpenOR uses a fibre network that supports uncompressed 4K and telementoring between the operating room and an outside audience. Network design determines delay, image quality and how many screens can be served at once. Involve hospital IT early to agree on bandwidth, security and storage.

For deeper detail on cabling and network options, see the related article on IP video infrastructure, and for hospital system links our note on HIS and PACS connectivity.

What to specify and ask

Write down the clinical scenarios first: which procedures, how many screens, which sources must be visible to whom. Then request layouts, signal diagrams and a demonstration of switching. Ask how the system behaves when a source is added later, how the interface is localised, and who services it.

Also confirm display mounting. Screens on ceiling arms keep floors clear, as discussed in our guide to the integrated operating room. UAE hospitals should verify any data-handling and device-registration requirements with the relevant authorities.

Common mistakes include specifying screens before the sources are known, forgetting the audio path for telementoring, leaving no spare inputs for future equipment, and treating recording as an afterthought. A short written acceptance test, run at handover with the surgical team present, catches most of these.

Start a conversation

To discuss video routing for a new or existing theatre, share your list of sources and screens with Beckfinity and we will recommend an integration scope and prepare a quote. Use the contact page to begin.