Camera Housing for Intraoperative Photography

Abstract

Background: Intraoperative photography features key aspects of surgical procedures. However, out-field personnel are usually requested to take photos with a surgeon-owned camera, without acknowledgement of correct surgeon-needed perspectives. The present study presented a waterproof camera housing case that could be sterilized and host a camera in surgical field. Surgeons take better photos themselves with shorter time spent. Objective: To capture good intraoperative photos with a camera housed in a sterile case without any complications. Materials and Methods: Fifty photos from twenty patients were taken. Two photos were taken per one visual aspect, one in-field photo from the surgeon who owned the camera, applied in the sterile camera housing case (Group 1), another photo from out-field personnel (Group 2). Both photos were shot with the same camera (Nikon P310) and the same settings with a fixed point of focus. Photo quality, time consumed for each photo taken and the out-field personnel’s satisfaction rate for intraoperative photography were compared. The time consumed for application of the camera into the case was also recorded. Results: The mean application time until the camera was completely sealed was 36.30+5.25 seconds. Photo quality rate, from two blinded raters, was significantly higher in Group 1 (p-value=0.00). Less time consumed for each photo taken was found in Group 1 (p-value=0.00). Out-field personnel’s satisfaction rates were higher when the surgeon took intraoperative photos himself in Group 1 (p-value=0.00). There was no surgical site infectious complication in all patients in the present study. Conclusion: A sterile camera housing case, adapted from a waterproof case for underwater photography, could be used for intraoperative photography. Then, good intraoperative photos with less time consumed were achieved without any surgical site infections.