UC San Diego expands Center for Future of Surgery

Editor's Note

The University of California San Diego School of Medicine announced October 14 that it has expanded its Center for the Future of Surgery, one of few facilities in the world that teaches surgery in high-tech simulated ORs.

This fall, the 22,000 sq-ft center added a new hybrid OR and a microsurgical suite, making it the largest, most comprehensive training facility in the US.

The new additions allow for training in highly specialized areas, such as interventional endovascular surgery to stop brain hemorrhages, repair arteries, reconstruct facial nerves, and restore hearing.

The hybrid OR includes technologies from intraoperative imaging to 3D scanning, with one wall paneled with an interactive computer touch screen as tall and wide as the room.

In the microsurgical lab, surgeons demonstrate and practice the nuances of techniques, such as drill performance, light vs forceful pressures, and preservation of brain structures.

The hybrid OR and microsurgical suites will also be used by industry to develop new surgical techniques, approaches, and procedures.