And to think, just over a year ago we all thought 1080p surgery was the future. Recently, Steven F. Palter, MD of Gold Coast IVF in Syosset, NY teamed with RED and Sony in order to "film and project a surgery and microscopic images in 4K, which represents its first uses in medicine and biology." During the digital cinema presentation, the 1,600+ surgeons in attendance were able to view the procedure in nauseating detail, giving the crowd the ability to almost be right there inside the operating room from afar. Additionally, the session included a projection of the "largest high-definition 3D surgical images ever," which we can only imagine led to at least a few dozen fainting episodes.

[Image courtesy of Surgery Encyclopedia]

We know several doctors who come home to relax in front of some HD material, and Sony (no stranger to the medical field) has a slew of new and upgraded products to make sure that they get the same high-fidelity experience at work. The ImageCore HD Digital Capture System can put both still and video images at full 1920x1080 pixel resolution onto the hospital network for anyone to view. And wouldn't you know, Sony has a new 32-inch LMD-3250 HD LCD monitor to help out with just that. Of course, collaboration is a big deal among medical specialists, and HD videoconferencing between five sites can be done with the PCS-XG80; there's even the UP-55MD/HD video printer so everyone can get a hardcopy. Sure, there are other players in the HD medical space, but this kind of product range is pretty impressive.

Weak stomach? Yeah, you may want to utilize that scroll wheel over there and pass this one on by. TRUMPF Medical Systems has just introduced what it's calling the "world's first in-light high definition operating room camera," the TruVidia HD. Said device is designed to be "integrated into the central handle of the TRUMPF iLED surgical light," but it's also available on a separate arm for different applications. Captured images taken during procedures are stored conveniently on a USB flash drive for easy portability, but there's no mention of what hospitals are planning (or already have) to integrate a few of these into their wards.

[Via TechRadar, thanks sk]

High-definition capture and monitoring equipment has long been available for medical uses, but for whatever reason, widespread use has yet to catch on. Now, however, you people will be able to um, partake, in viewing the "first HDTV surgery ever broadcast" as National Geographic HD airs a special presentation of the 1080p system in action. According to a doctor that actually got to experience the technology first-hand, the KSEA HDTV Surgical System provides a widescreen, Full HD look at what's going on within, employs a 3CCD camera with an acquisition resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, and outputs an image that is progressively scanned and displayed at 60 full frames-per-second. We'd recommend you tune in to the aforementioned show on September 16th if the channel is available in your neck of the woods, but you may want to click on and see a few stills of the KSEA in action before subjecting yourself (read: your weak stomach) to the real deal.

[Thanks, Dr. Steven P.]

Lest we forget, Sony does more than just Blu-ray and SXRD. At the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in Chicago it's showing off a collection of HD monitors and video equipment to make sure that when students go over your "minor surgery" gone horribly wrong, it is all recorded in crisp 1080i. Sony plans to show off the LMD-2140MD monitor shown here and its first XDCAM HD medical-grade 1080i video recorder, the PDW-70MD, with the IPELA videoconferencing platform to demonstrate high definition video streaming over IP. Some may question the need for high-def in medicine but we see this as an extremely necessary tool for training. Next time you make a trip out of the country for cheap surgery, make sure your fly by night quack surgeon earned his internet degree training in HD.