The Stainless Steel Lighted Operating Room System is a Commercial HVAC Solution Designed to Meet Industry Standards
It is unlikely that a patient can recall the room in which they underwent a surgical procedure, and, unless you’re in the field, most people’s conception of an operating room comes from watching television hospital dramas.
These depictions aren’t entirely inaccurate. Designed to make the work of surgeons and their team efficient and precise, an operating room contains a surgical bed, movable tools and technology, and plenty of space for easy access to the patient, and a responsive team. Another familiar feature is the bright lighting on a crane-like arm that can be positioned variously to focus intensely on surgery at hand.
If one looks overhead, however, there is, in fact, another key feature that operating rooms require for the success and health of their procedures. This is the commercial HVAC air distribution system that provides filtered airflow into the operating room. As an additional feature, a smartly designed system can also provide overhead lighting which replaces other more traditionally used flexible lighting features.
What follows is a tour of a product, and a commercial HVAC manufacturer, that performs these functions: AJ Manfacturing’s Stainless Steel Lighted Operating Room System. Here, we present its features, and how these provide critical environment solutions for medical facilities.
Clean Air from Commercial HVAC Experts
The primary purpose of the Stainless Steel Lighted Operating Room System, or SSLORS, is to provide clean air that meets cleanroom air quality standards; in particular, this means that the system meets ASHRAE 170 requirements, which set the standard for how health care facilities are ventilated. For instance, the ASHRAE 170 standard requires MERV-16 at a minimum for filtration in an operating room setting (MERV, for reference, is the rating system to determine what size particle can pass through a filter without stoppage on a scale of 1-20, 20 representing the smallest particle size). The standards that the SSLORS meets are in place primarily for infection control as well as exposure to anesthetic gasses as well as to prevent the risk of fire, as some oxygen-supplying medical tools can leak additional oxygen into the air.
Below, we will identify some of the key components of this air-filtering system designed by a leader in commercial HVAC manufacturing.
The Plenum
To deliver clean air into an operating room, a plenum, which is a large air distribution box, needs to be installed in the ceiling. A plenum could hypothetically take up a significant amount of head room; however, the plenums which have been designed by AJ Manufacturing are low-profile, so they don’t take up room that can be utilized for vital operating room considerations.
Laminar Flow
The operating room’s ceiling system is designed to diffuse air into an operating room by the physics of “laminar flow.” Laminar flow refers to a way in which materials like liquid or air can move. Laminar flow is an evenly distributed flow in which the layers of air run parallel to each other with no disruption. Air therefore flows downward into the operating room in a uniform, even fashion as intended by the SSLORS’ design.
Gel Sealed Filters
These diffusers can be fitted with a gel seal HEPA or ULPA filter (ULPA offers an even higher level of particulate-free air than the more commonly known and used HEPA filter). The gel that secures these filters in place allows for an exceptionally protective seal, ensuring that air can only pass through the filters during its flow into the operating room.
Stainless Steel and Antimicrobial Paint
A Stainless Steel Lighted Operating Room System, like all AJ Manufacturing products, is built with high quality stainless steel. This is AJ Manufacturing’s specialization, and it is used in all of our commercial HVAC products. This stainless steel is then coated with antimicrobial paint to offer the highest level of protection for all equipment that is introduced in the cleanroom environment.
Ease of Installation and Cleanability
When AJ Manufacturing is shipping a high quality product of the utmost importance to the client’s industry – such as SSLORS – they want to ensure that the customer will receive it, install it, and provide maintenance when needed with minimal interference or difficulty. Therefore, Stainless Steel Lighted Operating Room Systems are engineered for competitive shipping options, ease of install, and cleanability.
From shipping to the client’s experience with the system, a Stainless Steel Lighted Operating Room System is there to serve as a critical environment solution, not a burden. A commercial HVAC system should be manufactured to explicitly serve the client’s needs, with an understanding that such products are designed and built for people’s safety and wellbeing.
When ordered, AJ Manufacturing ensures that this system is shipped in large sections, so that installation is clearer, and requires less assembly. A medical facility can ensure that a SSLORS is up and running relatively quickly because of the simple hanging requirements. Additionally, these air distribution systems can be cleaned conveniently because they open into the room beneath them.
Lighting Upgrades and More
SSLORS can be manufactured without lights, but our system is designed so that it can do double-duty in this crucial environment where clean air is needed for protection, and light is needed for precision.
SSLORS can be upgraded with minimal wiring to include superior lighting. This lighting feature can also help minimize the space that is utilized for other operating room lighting systems, such as the aforementioned “arm” lighting that extends from the ceiling. This design was specifically engineered to make the operating room’s urgent environment more efficient, so that a medical team can do their work to help a patient heal, or even save a life.
AJ Manufacturing Can Tailor Commercial HVAC Systems to Our Client’s Priorities
SSLORS can include a number of optional features that have been designed specifically to assist clients in their particular situations. AJ Manufacturing, in business for nearly 100 years, prides itself in being responsive to its clients, knowing that critical thinking and ingenuity can greatly benefit the artful, life-changing work being done in the medical field.Contact us online, or give us a call at 816-231-5522 to learn more about our Stainless Steel Lighted Operating Room System, and find out how we can benefit your facility with our commercial HVAC solutions.