What Most People Miss When It Comes To Surgical Lighting

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Why does lighting not always get the
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attention it deserves and conversations
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about surgical innovation? Welcome to
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Beyond the Light, where we talk about
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the people, ideas, and innovation
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shaping the future of medical lighting
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and medical technology. I'm your host,
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Lindsay Jenovic. Today, I have two
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special guests with me to discuss how
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the commercial side meets the
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engineering side when it comes to
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surgical lighting. I'd like to welcome
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Riha Malaved. She is the surgical
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project engineer here at Lumatex as well
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as Dylan Ash. He's the senior product
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manager for surgical. Hello to you both.
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Thank you for joining.
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Thank you for having us.
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So to start, can each of you share a
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little bit about your role and how you
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interact with surgical device customers?
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Rehab, I'll start with you.
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Sure. So I'm the project engineer here
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at Lumatex. Work closely with our OEMs
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that are developing new surgical systems
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and my role is really trying translate
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what they're trying to achieve into a
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lighting solution that actually fits
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into their device design. So I spent a
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lot of time really understanding the
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procedure, the design of the retractor
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and then working through how lighting
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can fit into that system and perform
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well in the surgical environment.
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And I I'll go next here, Lindsay. Um, so
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I'm the senior product manager for
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Lumex's surgical portfolio as you
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mentioned and I act as our primary point
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of contact for our customers. So in my
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role I'm I'm acting kind of as the
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liaison between customers and Lympex
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leveraging their insights and developing
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in cavity lighting solutions that meet
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their needs and provide long-term value.
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And all that's done through the close uh
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crossf functional collaboration that we
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have internally here at Lumatex.
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Yeah, absolutely. Great. And Dylan, from
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your perspective on the product market
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side, why does lighting not always get
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the attention it deserves and
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conversations about surgical innovation?
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Yeah, great question. I would say from
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my perspective, lighting doesn't always
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get the attention it deserves in
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surgical innovation discussions because
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the industry typically defaults to
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existing readily available solutions
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like O overhead O lights or headmounted
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headmounted surgeon lights. And while
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these provide great disperse
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illumination, a common misconception is
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that they're sufficient for all
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applications and procedures particularly
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that involve deep cavity access or
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tunnled access. Proper illumination and
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visibility are critical. Yet these
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traditional solutions often can't
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achieve this adequately.
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Yeah, absolutely. Rehuman, I know you're
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out in the field quite a bit. So when
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you think about the operating room, what
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is it that surgeons are really asking
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for when it comes to visibility?
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That's a good question, Lindsay. I think
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when it comes to visibility in the OS,
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surgeons are really asking for
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consistent illumination, especially
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where they're operating deep inside the
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side of surgical cavity. They really
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want light that gives clear visibility
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without creating the glare or shadows
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sometimes to see and without generating
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heat that could become an issue or rest
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the patient. And just as importantly,
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they want a solution that integrates
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naturally into their workflow without
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like adding that extra step or added
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complexity to the procedure. Yeah, it's
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very interesting. One thing that I think
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is kind of fascinating about having both
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of you here is that you look at new
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opportunities from very different
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angles. So, when a new opportunity comes
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in to Lumatex, how do each of you look
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at it differently? Dylan, I'll start
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with you.
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Yeah, great question. From a product
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management and sales perspective, I
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typically evaluate new opportunities in
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terms of overall fit. So specifically, I
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assess whether the customer's needs or
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their intended application can be
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addressed using one of our core lighting
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technologies or if it would require net
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new development on our side.
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Historically, our business has been
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primarily focused in spine. So when I'm
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looking at new business opportunities, I
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think long term about how we can expand
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our reach and apply our existing
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knowledge and expertise to improve
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surgical lighting and other specialties
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as well outside of spine.
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Rehab.
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Yeah. So really what Dylan said so after
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we do that assessment from a product
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management standpoint I look at it from
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an engineering perspective is that I
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start by understanding the procedure and
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the type of the system that the customer
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is developing especially the retractor
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being used that helps us understand
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where the visibility challenge might be
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and then the next step is really looking
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at the geometry of the device I'm going
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to be dealing with translating the
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customer needs into design parameters
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things like brightness how much and the
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light distribution and how light can
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overall fit into their retracting system
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smoothly. And
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I think just to kind of think about the
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whole picture, Rehung, could you kind of
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walk us through what typically happens
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when we have that first conversation to
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a customer all the way up until the
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point that we have an actual functional
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prototype?
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Yeah, absolutely. So again, after we
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have assessed the
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design and the opportunity, we really
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work closely with our customers.
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Sometimes we get like into brainstorming
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sessions, do multiple phone calls and
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try to get samples in house to really
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get our hands on them so that we can
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design the best lighting approach for
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the system. And then communication is
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key here with the customer to really
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align on design concepts and everything
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early on before we actually go into
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development.
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Thank you.
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Yeah, that's great. Thank you. And you
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know along these lines and in this vein
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I think it makes sense to focus on why
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custom lighting is so important. Rhon
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just staying with you for a minute from
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an engineering standpoint. What would
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you say are the hidden challenges of
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integrating lighting into a surgical
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device?
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Great question. So a lot of people think
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that lighting is really pretty
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straightforward but integrating it into
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a surgical device comes with quite a few
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challenges. Space is usually the first
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one. Many surgical retractors have
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really compact channels for where the
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lighting fits. So that can sometimes be
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a little bit tricky. And then there's
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delivering the light illumination. While
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brightness really matters, it's really
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more about directing the light upwardly
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and avoiding shadows into the deep
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surgical site. We also have to think
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about heat and keep it in mind. And in
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some instances obviously we need to make
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sure that the system can withstand
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multiple repeated cycle uh sterilization
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cycles. So overall from engineering
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standpoint it really becomes a good
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balance between performance, durability
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and the constraints of the device we're
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working with.
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Yeah, absolutely. Dylan, this is really
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something I think is close to you and I
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I know that you've experienced this time
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and time again. Can you talk about how
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lighting can become such a big
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differentiator for an OEM? Absolutely. I
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think from a product perspective,
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lighting can be a differentiator for an
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OEM when it's tailored to the needs of
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the surgeons and the clinicians that are
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actually going to be using the products.
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And that's ultimately dependent on the
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specific procedures that they're being
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used in. When lighting is integrated
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thoughtfully, it enhances the device by
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providing illumination and enhanced
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visibility, which can elevate the
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clinical functionality and performance.
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In procedures where accurate tissue
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identification and precision are
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critical, better lighting can ultimately
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support improved outcomes.
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Absolutely. So, this is something I talk
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about often in these Beyond the Light
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episodes, so I need to get your take on
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it. At what point in device development
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should companies be thinking about
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lighting?
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You know, I'm really glad you asked this
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question because I cannot emphasize how
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important it is for lighting to be
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considered early on to achieve the best
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outcome. Ideally, lighting should be
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considered early in the design phase
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before the device is actually finalized.
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That gives us engineers the flexibility
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to properly work and integrate the
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lighting into the device geometry and
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have more options really when it comes
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to the design material selection and
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just overall the best fitting approach.
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If it's introduced too late that the
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device at that point is usually locked
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at locked and you can't really change it
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a whole lot. So it becomes a little bit
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of challenging trying to fit lighting
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into a system that wasn't originally
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designed for.
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Yeah, I would say echoing
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anything to add Dylan.
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Yeah, eching off what Rehom said, you
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know, I think really the earlier the
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better in terms of lighting being
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considered as part of the device design.
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As soon as the concepts been developed
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from a design perspective, lighting
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should also be considered. You know,
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this ensures that lighting remains at
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the a core part of the device design and
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it's incorporated properly so it
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functions in a way that you know
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provides the best possible outcomes in
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the procedure that it's going to be used
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in.
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Absolutely. As we kind of look forward
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procedures continue to become more
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minimally invasive, more precise rehom
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is that changing what lighting needs to
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do? I think one of the big changes with
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MIS is that surgeons are really working
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through smaller access points and often
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much deeper into the body. So because of
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that the typical like overhead lights
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and arms don't always reach where the
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surgeon actually needs the light. So I
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believe lighting needs to become more
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targeted. It's less about just
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increasing brightness, but it's really
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more about directing the light exactly
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where it needs to be and controlling the
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beam so it provides consistent
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visibility in those deep surgical um
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cavities at sites, you know?
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Yeah. And Dylan, looking ahead a bit,
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where do you see surgical lighting
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evolving over the next several years?
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That's the million-dollar question,
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Lindsay. I see surgical lighting
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continuing to evolve towards more
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versatile handheld uh solutions that can
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be used across a wider range of
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procedures. Now, this would include a
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movement towards more portable battery
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powered systems that reduce the reliance
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on capital equipment and would provide
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some greater flexibility in the O for
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the end users that are using the
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products.
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That makes sense. So, to kind of wrap
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this up, I want to ask you both, what is
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one misconception about surgical
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lighting that you would love to correct?
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crystalline. I think one misconception
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is that surgical lighting is just about
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brightness or it's just a simple add-on
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device that you can add on at the end
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after you develop your um device. So,
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while brightness definitely matters,
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it's really important and it's really
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only part of that equation, lighting
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really needs to be thoughtfully
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integrated into the device design.
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things like placement control as
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discussed and how the light is delivered
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all play a big role and how effective it
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is actually in the surgical field. I
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think what do you think Dylan?
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I think Rean stole the words out of my
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mouth a little bit but I would say my
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key message would be that you know
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surgical lighting the brightness doesn't
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always determine the effectiveness. You
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know, proper lighting placement is
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paramount in ensuring that light reaches
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critical structures that are otherwise
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difficult to see, especially in those
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deep tub tunnel procedures while
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ensuring that you're minimizing the
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shadows to improve visualization in the
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surgical field to ensure that we have
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best outcomes.
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Really great insights from both of you.
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Uh Dylan Rehan, thank you both for
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taking the time to share your
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perspectives today.
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Thank you, Lindsay.
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And to our listeners, thanks for tuning
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in. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure
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to follow Beyond the Light for more
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conversations with the people shaping
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the future of medical lighting and
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medical technology. And until next time,
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keep pushing boundaries and keep
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improving life with light.