Healthcare professionals improvise solutions which are not recommended options to put in practice at the medical environment. Generalistic products, including jackets and vests, designed for leisure and outdoor activities in the cold, are often used by these professionals. Although these products are durable, resistant and versatile to perform many different kinds of tasks, they may not be eligible to be used when these professionals are at work.

In order to warm them up, it is common to adapt warm, non-sterile clothing. Indeed, nowadays, healthcare professionals have many options when it comes to generalistic products but there is a lack of technical solutions. From the generic clothing, the most established one, there are jackets and vests that are meant to be used to assist the practice of sports practice or leisure, outdoor activities, such as snow sports, mountaineering, etc. in cold environments. Although such products are comfortable and helpful to deal with the cold, they have restrictions when it comes to their use in the medical setting.

The solutions being used to protect healthcare professionals from the exposure to cold, when they are at work, are common jackets developed to fulfil the needs users have when doing outdoor activities. Being created for leisure, such products do not foresee the specific design needs these professionals have to better perform their daily tasks at work.

Inside the operating rooms, the air is permanently being monitored. A lot of variables have to be controlled to prevent microbial dissemination and to keep the environment as aseptic as possible. Temperature and humidity are two factors well known to have an important impact on microbial proliferation. Therefore, to achieve such purpose, the temperature inside the operating room should be maintained between 19oC and 24oC for a relative humidity of 50 to 55%. A low relative humidity rate (<50%) increases the risk related to the presence of static electricity, which can help microbes to get inadvertently attached to the surface of certain objects.

As for the comfort of the healthcare professionals, it can be taken into consideration the necessity to protect them against low temperatures (19-21oC).

TermoTech Jackets are a textile solution to warm-up the healthcare professional and to be worn in places where cold can be a source of discomfort and an uncomfortable problem to solve. On the other hand, aligned with the trend to implement good practices of hygienization in the healthcare settings, our product has permanent antimicrobial effect in the outer and inner layer, water repellent effect and antistatic effect.

Inside the Healthcare Institutions, temperatures are generally low (19-21oC) and healthcare professionals need to use jackets to keep them warm. Because they are at work, these jackets need to be warm and flexible to generate heat and, at the same time, allow a wide range of movements. Weight is also a critical requirement. The fabrics used in ThermoTech Jackets have in consideration the balance between these three variables and, in combination, they exponentiate each other making the jackets a lightweight, flexible and warm product.

When at work, healthcare professionals are exposed to biohazard materials that can get trapped on their clothing, p. ex. the jackets. Through splashes and/or aerosols, hazard particles get deposited on the surface of their jackets. To prevent this, ThermoTech Jackets have a permanent water repellent effect that reduces the risk of staining with dangerous materials. Also, regarding safety, these hazardous materials can be contaminated with microorganisms. We added a permanent antimicrobial effect to decrease the rate of proliferation of such microorganisms. Another permanent effect on the fabrics is the anti-static effect, which minimizes the risk of accidental adhesion/attraction of microorganisms to the jackets’ surface when the user takes it out and leaves it nearby a contaminated object.

Regarding ThermoTech Jackets design, one of the main objectives was to have a reduced surface area due to the impact it has on the risk of accidental microorganisms depositing. The lesser the surface area, the lesser the chance to get the jackets contaminated with dangerous substances/microorganisms. To get such results our Jackets have the sewing threads sealed with a heat sealing reflective strip. With this, the user becomes much easier to find when a patient needs its assistance in low light circumstances, and with the sewing threads sealed, the total surface area reduces significantly.

In order to keep reducing the surface area, our jackets don’t have “always-opened” pocket like those pockets located on the left pectoral area (p. ex. shirt pocket), where frequently the institutional identification card is hanged or pens are stored. On ThermalTech Jackets, all pockets have auto-lock zippers to ensure the pockets can be closed and will not open accidentally, avoiding to lose personal belongings or professional equipment, p. ex. syringes, needles, paper notes, etc. Because we eliminated the conventional “always-opened” pockets, new arm pen-pockets had to be placed in both arms of the jackets. Such pockets have a passive closure mechanism based on a lapel system that covers the entry point of access to the place the pens are stored. It is an automated passive closure mechanism which prevents an accumulation of debris on the bottom of the pockets or pens to fall from it.

To overcome the necessity to have the institutional ID card always visible, ThermoTech Jackets have, on the left upper pocket a hidden compartment to permanently store such card. To make it visually easy to access we created a transparent window placed on the frontal aspect of such pocket. This way, patients and other professionals, can easily see the identification of the healthcare professional. In terms of identifying the professional, we left a cleared space on the right pectoral area to have the function of the healthcare professional stamped in a reflective material, p. ex. “Doctor”, “Nurse”, “Assistant”, etc. The pocket system existing on the ThermoTech Jackets include a high capacity pocket on the back aspect of the jacket. When at work, high volume objects need to be stored, p. ex. stethoscope, and therefore having such pocket will allow the user to always keep these objects where it needs the most, nearby. Our jackets also have a pocket communicating system, which enables the passage of cables between the pockets on the right quadrant of the jackets. This allows the user to recharge its smartphone without having to have cables passing through via the exterior aspect of the jackets and increasing the risk of contamination by accidentally touching biohazard substances or other types of incidents.

Other details of design include the detachable sleeves. With the ThermoTech Jackets, the user has another way to manage thermoregulation, apart from opening the frontal zipper and increasing the risks of body exposure. By taking out the sleeves, exposure of the superior limbs allows the user to lose temperature. Also, when certain techniques need to be performed and require full exposure of the upper limbs, the sleeves can be detached and the user will remain comfortable, even when the surrounding temperature is uncomfortably low. Due to the existence of a high capacity pocket on the back aspect of the jacket, these sleeves can be stored safely and remain close to the user. It won’t need to go to a locker and leave its post. Another design detail is the adjustable wrists and waist endings. With the enriched-elastic materials on the ending of the sleeves and torso, there is a significant reduction on the risk of “accidental entrance” of microorganisms, or hazardous substances, into the inner aspect of the jacket. This prevents close contact between the users’ skin and such dangerous substances, increasing safety at work.

Some interventions cannot be recorded by this kind of camera since the angle from which the recording can be taken is very narrow. Essentially, a camera embedded in the center of the frame, between the eyes, records the same perspective as that of the surgeon. If the surgeon sees it, so does the camera on the glasses. Also, this gives surgeons an increased motivation to use protection glasses.

Vision is the only pair of glasses that has a motorized adjustable point of view integrated in the frame. They are also the only smartglasses capable of censoring out sensible information on runtime, such as the privacy of the people involved, respecting the 2018 european data protection regulations. We also combine extended autonomy using wearable and swappable batteries (without interrupting functionality) with voice control, ergonomy and integrated display on a tethered computational unit for real time preview of what is being recorded and review of recorded data after acquisition.

These products are still under development and we intend to release them between the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018. You may subscribe to our newsletter on the bottom of the screen and we will inform you when they are released.

SurgeonMate Library ensures that the user can save the video securely. Surgical recording is an effective method for optimizing learning by reviewing everything that has been done and sharing that information with other colleagues.

Interestingly, the period when the team began to develop technology coincided with the appearance of the General Regulations Data Protection (RGPD). At the time, it was not a widely publicized subject, but knowing the implications it would have in advance guided all developments at SurgeonMate to respect the privacy and protection of patient data. This need gave rise to the creation of the SurgeonMate Library. A database management platform with enhanced security and robust data protection that allows you to enter clinical data, strictly necessary for medical nodes, as well as the multimedia files created by smart bones. This information can only be accessed by the surgeon who created it.

SurgeonMate's idea came when Nuno, the company's creator, was in South Africa doing a Trauma internship. There you saw things that in Europe are very rare! We live in a country that is not exactly dangerous, it is true that there is crime, but it has a reduced rate. The same is not true in South Africa. The truth is that for those who have never contacted this reality, it can be hard to believe what he saw and did to treat the patients who came to them. He thought that recording the surgeries would be a good way to make them aware of this reality. It was then that he began to devise a device that would allow him to record the surgeries ... deep down, have a backup and allow him to review what he had done. The market already offered some solutions like Smart Glasses, but it was not enough! When he returned to Portugal he joined his team and started creating a new device ... a project from scratch! In 2015 they raised the needs and idealized the concept, and in 2016 matured the idea. SurgeonMate was born, with the SurgeonMate Vision glasses and the SurgeonMate Library.

Not yet. The SM library is a web-based application. To access the Library, you just need Internet access and to enter the portal through your browser. You can access it from any device (PC, laptop, smartphone) and anywhere in the world. Besides, you have the guarantee that you are using the latest version of the application, and that all information is kept synchronized in real time.

No problem. All data is stored on our servers. In addition, during document composition, your data is being permanently stored as soon as you finish editing any data field, so you don't lose anything, even if you are momentarily without internet, without power, or your device is malfunctioning.

The SM Library is prepared to facilitate the user experience on mobile platforms. Just use your device's browser to access the www.surgeonmate.com portal, and the entire interface will be adjusted for better use.

Yes. An app is optimized for multi-profile use in your user account.

Yes.

Yes.

It is possible to upload clinical data in different formats (XML, CVS)

We use the best solutions for the integrity, conservation, and security of your data. We use the best cybersecurity solutions and data communication encryption between our services and the user, comparable to the solutions used by banking systems.

In the end, the security of your data is only conditioned on the responsible use by the user of your access terminal and your authentication data.

You should get in touch with us through the customer support service.

Yes. In the Settings section, you will find the automatic tools for account cancellation and permanent removal of your personal data .

To access the account, the user has to log in with redundant validation processes that use advanced cybersecurity technology. The creation of the user account implies the presentation and validation of the professional card.

You can submit your doubts or queries via e-mail to SurgeonMate, by uploading a Support Ticket, by telephone, or by contacting us indicated in the Contacts section.

Support via email or support ticket is free. Telephone technical support on your own initiative implies subscribing to the Additional Service - Direct Support. Subject to a cost according to the current price list. For support requests by email or support ticket, we may eventually get in touch with you, at no additional cost, when justified.