Telemedicine in tomorrow's operating room: a natural fit.

The integration of telecommunications and information technologies in medicine, known as telemedicine, has traditionally been outside the operating room. However, with the advent of new technologies, smart systems, and advanced computing, adoption and adaptation of these technologies in the operating room has increased. The operating room has been a place of startling isolation. The operating room is an island within a health system that is only reached by a select few. The application of telemedicine in this inaccessible place offers a huge potential in a variety of ways. These include enhanced education for students, enhanced safety for the patient, enhanced knowledge of the events that occur-a sort of status monitoring of underlying infrastructures-and sharing of the operating environment for collaboration. The Operating Room of the Future will be linked to other islands of expertise by robust telemedicine capabilities, thereby eliminating the isolation. Telemedicine in tomorrow's operating room is a natural fit