Design and development of an intelligent lighting system for operation theatres

Abstract

Maintaining proper light intensity level inside of an operation theatre is a critical factor for a surgery to be perform successfully. The focusing location and the intensity level is controlled by manually in currently available systems. But, disruption of surgeon’s attention and possibility of infection to the surgery are increased by the manual controlling method. So, designing an intelligent lighting system for operating theatre which can maintain the intensity values to the required level without shadow effect to the operation area is an important requirement. Drawbacks relating to the existing light manipulation mechanism are identified and introduced new mechanism which is compatible with the dynamic system. To ensure the dynamic capabilities of the designed system, a simulation has been done using MATLAB SimMechanics. Suitable sensory feedback system is implemented to identify the target point location, orientation and its light intensity as well. The sensory feedback system is consisted with three Light intensity sensors, one Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and an array of Light Dependent Resistors (LDR). IMU is used to measure the tilt angle of the sensor panel which is equivalent to the hand of the surgeon. Light intensity sensors are used to manipulate the light with proper intensity to the target location. LDRs are used to take the position of the sensor panel. Location and the orientation of the surgeons hand have been taken as the target to follow within a certain workspace by maintaining equal distance to the target at all the time to ensure proper illumination. A prototype has been developed to prove the concept with above mentioned methods.