Aspirus Wausau Hospital Announces First Large Scale Digital Operating Room Integration Project in the US

Aspirus Wausau Hospital today announced the first extensive multi-O.R. integration project in the US with Buzz Digital O.R. at Aspirus Wausau Hospital, in Wausau, WI.

The foundation of all 13 new operating rooms will be Buzz, a centralized surgical hub for operating room control and management. This integrative system supports planning, navigation, imaging and communications connectivity.

Buzz Digital O.R. is an advanced fusion of intuitive software and hardware all controlled from the full HD 42” multi-touch display featuring a user-friendly home button. Buzz can route, display, interact, stream, record and enhance medical images and videos with drag and drop simplicity. The system also features an interactive DICOM viewer that is specifically designed for surgeons and offers possibilities like automatic 3D reconstructions, image fusion and object creation with SmartBrush, also by Brainlab. The DICOM viewer offers standard PACS viewing capabilities.

“The Buzz system truly integrates the entire surgical image suite,” said Todd Dirkman, Director of Surgical Services, Aspirus Wausau Hospital. “Image sources from radiology, cardiology, surgical cameras, ultrasounds, endoscopes and hemodynamic systems can all be routed and displayed throughout the surgical suite via a single touchscreen user interface. This technology, while incredibly powerful for the surgical team, is nearly as easy to use as most common smartphones.”

Buzz can provide flexibility to Aspirus Wausau Hospital surgeons and surgical staff members through simple image routing and PACS integration. Part of this large-scale operating room integration is also the incorporation of Brainlab Curve™ Dual Display for neurosurgical navigation, which works together with Buzz to create a streamlined system.

“It is the privilege of Brainlab to collaborate with the forward-thinking clinicians at Aspirus Wausau Hospital,” said Sean Clark, President, Brainlab, Inc. “Truly understanding Wausau Hospital’s objective of seamless integration and efficient clinical workflow was critical in executing their multi-disciplinary technological expansion. Buzz is the digital foundation that bridges departments and forges multidisciplinary clinical engagement.”

In addition to neurosurgery and cardiac surgery, these digitally integrated operating rooms—with Buzz at their cores—will serve a range of specialties at Aspirus, such as orthopedics, trauma and hybrid surgery. Radiology has also shown interest in adding Buzz systems to assist with its departmental patient information management. 

Once installation is complete, the integrated operating rooms will put Aspirus Wausau Hospital on the leading edge of in-depth patient care in the region.