AOU Federico II inaugurates Hybrid Room, high technology for health care and education

A very high-tech hospital environment where doctors can operate and, at the same time, see the inside of a patient's body in real time thanks to sophisticated diagnostic tools such as CT scans, angiographs or three-dimensional ultrasound. It is the Hybrid Room inaugurated today in Building 2 of the Federico II University Hospital Company.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in the presence of the president of the Campania Region, Vincenzo De Luca, the rector of the Federico II University Hospital, Matteo Lorito, the general director of the Federico II University Hospital Company, Giuseppe Longo, and the president of the University's School of Medicine, Giovanni Esposito.

The realization of the Hybrid Room is part of the 'Stork Project,' which is at an advanced stage of implementation and involves the elevation and expansion of Building2, the current site of cardiology activities, with the aim of improving the provision of care both from a technical-structural point of view and in terms of humanization of spaces. Thanks to the innovative technologies of the Hybrid Room, it will be possible to perform very delicate procedures with greater precision, less invasiveness and often faster.

"Today we have inaugurated a first piece of emergency management that we hope can be done fully and soon in the Polyclinic," said the rector of the University, Matteo Lorito. "Thanks to this facility we are able to treat patients with urgent cardiological problems and deal with issues that until now in Campania could not be treated. In addition, having so much technology also means making it available to our medical students, who will number more than 3,000 this year."

The works were made possible thanks to funding from the Campania Region, which was also joined by resources from the University. Among the main innovations introduced: the creation of new rooms dedicated to the future cardiology emergency room, with a waiting room, warm room, observation and diagnostic imaging spaces; the enhanced vertical connection between the various levels by means of new risers; improved plant efficiency; and the aesthetic and functional enhancement of the entire building body.

"This is the practical example not only of good healthcare, but of the willingness to want to pursue certain goals both structurally and technologically," stressed the general director of the University Hospital Company, Giuseppe Longo, "with the Hybrid Room we are bringing forward technological innovation and also organizational innovation because the Company is preparing for the opening of the emergency room.

In recent days, the Hybrid Room has already been used to carry out the first surgery in southern Italy for transcatheter replacement of the tricuspid valve. Its instrumentation makes it possible to operate on the heart or blood vessels without opening the chest completely, or to correct a problem and check the result immediately, avoiding a second operation. For the patient, this means greater safety, fewer complications, shorter hospital stays and faster recovery, while for physicians it is a place that allows multidisciplinary teamwork where surgeons, cardiologists, anesthesiologists and radiologists work together in the field.

In addition to its clinical value, the Hybrid Room takes on a strong educational value: in fact, it is equipped with systems for live transmission of procedures and augmented reality tools for training residents. "This Hall," pointed out Giovanni Esposito, president of the School of Medicine of the University of Frederick, "is among the most advanced in Southern Italy and in Italy as a whole can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Here we have the opportunity to provide advanced training: the Hall allows for real-time transmission to all the classrooms of the Polyclinic of the interventions and therefore is an educational tool in step with innovation in health care and medical and personnel training."