iLED surgical light

Test card: Open circles on a red background

What are the real benefi ts of adjustable colour temperature? and how compatible is the iLED with an air-handling ceiling? Here are the answers:

Since its debut at the 2005 Medica trade show, the fi rst LED lamp has found new users worldwide and was also awarded two prizes in the USA at the “Health care Facilities Symposium & Expo”, which recognizes extraordinary innovations in the health industry. However it was even more important for their inventors to scientifi cally prove the quality of the iLED. So TRUMPF commissioned a study as to what degree adjustable colour temperature infl uences our visual performance and whether the iLED also suffi ciently meets the hygiene requirements of the OR.

Light colours for more vision

Currently, the iLED is the only operating light that can have its colour temperature adjusted to any OR situation – from warm red 3,500 Kelvin to cool blue at 5,000 Kelvin. An independent lighting institute conducted a study in which 30 test subjects had to identify standardised vision test characters on a colour background under both the iLED 5 and gas-discharge lamps. Th e results: Under the iLED, the characters were considerably clearer with weak colour contrasts. In most cases, the test subjects had the best vision at 4,000 to 4,500 Kelvin and with a blue back ground at 3,500 Kelvin. In addition, they preferred the iLED even when the colour temperatures of both lamps were the same (4,000 Kelvin) – because the iLED’s light was more evenly distributed. For surgeons, this means that the iLED helps them to better distinguish between healthy tissue and diseased tissue that is slightly off colour. For a red wound location, the surgeon’s eyes are relieved by a high colour temperature, for a blue wound location, a low colour temperature.

Hygienic or not?

Professor Seipp from the Centre for Hygiene and Technical Public Health tested how well the iLED met the hygiene regulations in the OR under reallife conditions and in strict compliance with EU directives. His fi ndings: Th e iLED 3 is one of the best lamps that is compatible with an air-handling ceiling that he has ever tested. Th is is because it generates very little turbulence that would disturb the irrotational, laminar fl ows in the OR and thereby impair the room’s cleanliness. Th is means that the light is also well-suited for sensitive medical disciplines such as orthopaedics and bone surgery in which absolute sterility is top priority. Th e iLED’s excellent ratings come from an open, compact form, low laminar fl ow surface and minimal temperatures on the lamp body.