Interview with Dr. Rosenfield

In this article, Dr. Rosenfield discusses the use of the Ultravision system and his view on the benefits it brings to his clinical practice, focusing on its impact on the surgical visual field.

Dr. Richard Rosenfield has been practicing medicine in Oregon since 2000. After completing his residency training at Stanford University Hospital, he moved to Portland. Dr. Rosenfield is widely known for his minimally invasive approaches to surgical procedures. He has lectured globally about the outpatient approach to hysterectomy, is passionate about value-based healthcare, and has pioneered new techniques and surgical approaches.

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Why visualisation is crucial in enabling a high performing OR: how Ultravision delivers on the key metrics of quality, efficiency, and safety.

How did you first become aware of Ultravision?

A friend of mine invited me over to the Alesi Surgical booth at the AAGL.?Right away when I saw this unique technology and how it could reduce smoke in the visual field during laparoscopy, I immediately wanted to try it out. ?I trialed it shortly afterward, was thrilled with its performance, and have been using Ultravision for a little over 18 months. We now use it on just about every laparoscopic case that we do.

Why is the reduction of smoke important to you during laparoscopic surgery?

When we’re doing laparoscopic surgery visualisation is just about everything. We need to be able to see what we are doing very clearly and what we are trying to accomplish anatomically. Anything we can do to eliminate the smoke from the visual field is going to be of benefit for the surgeon and therefore for the patient.?Improved visualisation just makes surgeons more efficient in the OR and that efficiency can achieve things like reduced bleeding, for example.?That’s because if you can see tissue more effectively and have a clearer image there’s a higher likelihood that you’re going to be more meticulous with your dissection.

“… we use it on just about every laparoscopic case that we do.”

Do you see any other benefits when using the system?

One thing you can say for sure is if you walk into an OR that doesn’t use this product versus one that does, you’re going to be able to smell surgical smoke.?It’s something that is pretty obvious that is dissipating into the room, and we know there are potential toxins in the smoke, so just reducing that makes a lot of sense. From our perspective, why wouldn’t you use this device? If it’s helping, it’s cost-effective, and it's safe then we think it’s a good idea to use it.

Did other factors affect your decision to use the system?

When we evaluate instruments for the OR we apply the principles of value-based healthcare.?Namely, we only use products that deliver quality, efficiency, and safety.

?We ask three key questions:

1. Is it easy to use? And the answer to that is yes, it is.
2. Is it expensive? No, it’s not expensive, it’s actually a very cost-effective tool.
3. Does it work? It absolutely works.

Ultravision hits the mark on all these things. We have definitely improved our visibility, reduced OR procedure time, and seen a reduction in the use of CO2. For me visibility is the most important thing because if we can have a product that helps a surgeon do their job better that’s a great thing. I believe improved visibility is something that all of us in the world of advanced laparoscopy surgery are looking for.

“easy to use… very cost-effective… it absolutely works.”

What would you tell your peers and colleagues about Ultravision?

Ultravision is a system that reduces the amount of smoke – both in the visual field, and released into the OR –, reduces the amount of CO2 your patients are exposed to and reduces the procedure time in the OR. All these things are going to be beneficial and decrease the morbidities of surgery.

This is the first product we’ve been using consistently that has the quality of smoke reduction that I need to be able to perform the surgeries that I perform on a regular basis.