University of Applied Sciences Gießen - Friedberg

The University of Applied Sciences Gießen-Friedberg has opened a research operating theatre. It is designed to be used for training students and conducting research. Stopping infections in wounds during an operation is the primary objective.

Most infections in a hospital occur directly in the operating theatre. In spite of a wide variety of sanitary measures and special operative medical technologies, infections caused in hospitals account for approx. 15% of the approximate one million infections that occur every year in clinics in Germany. While infectious agents transferred during operations in the last decade could still be treated effectively with antibiotics for the most part, the considerable increase in multi-resistant germs in clinics represents a fatal problem development.

Germs that are transported in the air as path of transmission during operations deserve particular attention besides the patient’s own flora, the instruments and the hands of the OT staff.

That leads to the following question: How is it possible to ensure germ-free ventilation in an operating theatre? This problem is currently a topic of study at the University of Applied Sciences Gießen-Friedberg. In the research operating theatre it is possible to simulate different situations (size of room, air flow conditions, temperature, etc.). Continuous measurements are performed to establish the basis for optimising technical parameters. By doing so new technological standards may be set for future operating theatres and for minimising the risks of infections in wounds in hospitals.

The new research operating theatre is equipped with two OT tables, an anaesthetic apparatus and a dialysis machine. It is also equipped with a highly-modern ventilation system, media bridge and movable partitions. The IS 500 OP Medidrant media bridge from TRILUX combines lighting, media supply and clean air equipment in a perfectly coordinated system. The possible combination with a supply air ceiling for turbulence-free displacement current—the so-called laminar air flow—ensures an extremely high level of air purity in the operating theatre. In addition to that, an Aurinio LED OT luminaire from TRILUX was also installed in order to investigate the impact of a modern LED OT luminaire on the air flow from the ventilation system (see Sanitary Analysis). The research operating theatre was also designed to serve as an area for training engineering students from the Hospital Utilities Management degree program. The University of Applied Sciences Gießen-Friedberg is the only university in German-speaking countries that offers a course of study specialising in Hospital Utilities Management. Application-related research and training with regard to the latest state of technology of hospital equipment are closely linked together here.