A pocketed surgical gown designed to help maintain instrument sterility and accessibility has just been launched.
And it is thanks to the previous career of a US surgeon, the gown is meeting the needs of surgeons around the globe.
Dr Joseph Dearani, Mayo Clinic's director of paediatric and adult congenital heart surgery, pulled on his experience as a race car mechanic to add tool pockets to surgical gowns.
He created it to provide surgical teams with safe and convenient instrument access in the operating room.
Made with chest pockets that can keep frequently used surgical instruments within easy reach while surgeons and clinicians operate across complex sterile fields, its pocketed design helps minimise potential contamination and unintentional instrument drops outside the clean area.
The gown is designed to hold one recommended instrument per pocket during surgical procedures.
It is aimed at helping to improve handling efficiency and enabling clinical teams to focus on delivering safe patient care.
The SmartGown EDGE is the result of Dr Joseph Dearani’s collaboration with Cardinal Health and co-inventor Salim Walji, a retired Mayo Clinic cardiothoracic surgeon.
Dr Dearani said: ‘For all specialities now, especially cardiac surgery, there’s so much technology in the operative field… Instruments get laid down. They fall in the drapes. They get mixed up with all this other stuff in the operative field. Surgical teams are tasked to move quickly and expertly. Any deviations that prevent a smooth surgery, such as delays in instrument sterility or accessibility during the procedure, could create setbacks for the staff.
‘We're pleased to have developed a solution that helps minimise these operating room challenges and allows surgeons to keep procedures moving efficiently.’
Dr Dearani was inspired by his frustrations over misplaced instruments since he was a resident 25 years ago.
As the issue of disorganisation continued to grow over the years, he decided to try a solution that he used while working as a race car mechanic in college before his medical career.
‘When working in the garage, we wore overalls with different pouches to carry many of our tools on our body. I always wondered why surgeons don’t have gowns with pockets. It seems like a no-brainer thing, like the wheels on a suitcase.’
The gown also has the ability to resist high fluid exposure and blood-borne pathogens and is designed with unique breathable technology to keep surgical staff cool and comfortable.
Photo: Cardinal Health
