AF100 surgical video: Total Artificial Heart Transplant

[mcbob]

http://www.jove.com/video/50377/implantation-of-the-syncardia-total-artificial-heart

I've done quite a number of surgeries in the past few years, this is probably the most radical of the bunch using the AF100. Fast forward to ~4min for the actual surgery. OBVIOUS WARNING: Surgery. Blood n' stuff.

Intro and conclusion lighting was horrible. Surgeon had no time before surgery, and was so thoroughly tuckered afterwards that he gave me 8 minutes to get what I needed before he went somewhere to collapse. I make it a rule to not argue with men who have just hacked out other mens' beating hearts with scissors.

With the severity and variation of surgical lighting, the AF is far easier to use than any DSLRish cam. The whole setup has to be completely free from extraneous connections - shotgun mic and wireless receiver, and that's it. The boxy shape wipes down easily enough. The 14-140 is my go-to lens since low light is never the problem, and lens changes are unlikely. Previous cameras I've used like the HVX200 and HMC150 simply lacked the detail and dynamic range of even the lately poorly-regarded AF.

My usual support gear is a Manfrotto monopod; it requires a small footprint, you have to move frequently, AND you might have to hold the camera above your head for hours as a stretch.

I've tried various full-automatic cameras from GoPros to purpose-built surgical cameras to get a 2nd angle, but they all have the same failings: they can't adjust properly to the intense spot lighting, and the surgeon's head will always be the only thing in their frame during the most vital part of the procedure. Mount the GoPro to the surgeon's head, and he won't look in the right direction and everyone will become seasick. To get these procedures properly absolutely requires a man with a camera hanging out over the surgeon's shoulder. Typically, I'll have a sterile drape mounted along the length of the monopod as a preventative against the surgeon bumping an unsterile bit of video gear.

Anyway, so there's one of my schticks. I know there's at least one of you out there that similarly utilizes the AF, eager to hear any constructive criticisms or tips for next time.

 

[little bobby]

I used to shoot lots of open heart surgeries. Back when I shot them, we had two PTZ cameras mounted on surgical arms that got mixed in with the surgical lights overhead. That meant we were able to shoot without even being in the room. It also meant that we were not getting in the way of the scrub tech, the surgeon, or anyone else assisting and there was no fear of one of us contaminating the sterile field.

I think something that would improve this style of shooting is to get the camera on a jib. If you're able to talk to the scrub nurse ahead of time, he/she should be able to drape the jib and parts of the camera so that if anyone touched it, they would be touching a sterile field as well. Unfortunately, this limits your ability to have control over the zoom unless you went with one of the power zooms that Panasonic offers. You could then control the zoom, focus, and iris with a Varizoom controller. We used a similar setup to this but used an HVX instead of an AF100 (because it wasn't around yet). We had the component of the HVX going to a SDI converter box that was fed into the video control room. It meant we still had to have an operator for the jib, but he was able to get it perfectly positioned so that the surgeon's head didn't get in the way. All-in-all, convincing the scrub tech of this plan is probably the hardest thing to do...at least it was in my experiences.

Another thing you should talk to the scrub tech about is keeping a stack of wet, blue towels available to cover-up the blood. We called this "dressing the field" as we did a lot of surgical broadcasts and wanted to make it look as blood-less as possible. Also, having the scrub tech wet the surgeons hands with sterile water will help with both preventing blood from sticking to his gloves as well as that dried blood look.

One final little tidbit. If you start doing this more regularly or if it is your full-time gig, look into the Eagle PTZ systems. You can mount one on a c-stand at the end of the surgical table and with the appropriate camera/lens combo, you can control everything from the Eagle controllers. The company I used to work for got some of these right before I left for recording/broadcasting surgeries that took place outside of our hospital.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions about my comment.

 

[mcbob]

Thanks for all the ideas LB. Currently the budgets on these shoots prohibit even the jib, so I'm going to have to soldier through with the gear I have.