Operating rooms turn to Zoom-like technology for the age of Covid

A US startup is growing its fleet of ‘procedural telemedicine’ consoles, a high-end Zoom-like service for the operating room that allows surgeons performing live procedures to collaborate with long-distance viewers following via a tablet or laptop. — AFP

Operating rooms tend to be busy places, often bustling with not just the surgeon, but also a phalanx of aides, students, technical advisers and, yes, medical device sales reps. That’s not exactly an ideal environment for social distancing.

Avail Medsystems, a Palo Alto-based US startup, is promising a better way for managing operating-room crowding in the age of Covid. The company is growing its fleet of “procedural telemedicine” consoles, a high-end Zoom-like service for the operating room that allows surgeons performing live procedures to collaborate with long-distance viewers following via a tablet or laptop.