Saving organs

“Because we are the biggest teaching facility in Canada,” Rizzo pointed out, “and probably ranked highly in North America in teaching, we have about 1700-1800 fellows that we teach. So, as we’re doing all this stuff, we’re teaching doctors from all over the world so they can take it back to their own place, where they live, where they work.”

The Organ Regeneration Lab is a lab and a studio at the same time. What you see in the OR is a large light fixture with high intensity lighting for the work over the organ. Everything in the room is done under high-definition video recording, so it can be viewed in any part of the world as it is happening. A 4K high-resolution camera built-in within the light fixture is centred perfectly over the surgeon’s table. There are microphones and speakers all over the ceiling. While the surgeons are working in the lab, they are also teaching other professionals around the world how to perform the work.

For Rizzo, “one of the biggest aspects was to put in a dedicated medical grade air handling unit to provide the air changes that were required for an ultra-sterile environment.”

“The islet room is considered on par with a pharmaceutical lab,” adds Button, “it requires 40 air changes an hour. The bio-hood in that room worked in reverse. They are dealing with cell cultures. Normally a hood would be protecting you, but here the hood was protecting what was in the hood from you. The room must be HEPA filtered and positively pressurized. So, the mechanical systems were enormous. A completely independent system.”

These two labs had to remove pathogens. Most organs are worked on within a glass box, so they are not exposed to the room proper. They are within their own environment, but the rooms must be ultra-sterile.

“This is cutting edge.” says Rizzo, “The intricate layout means you must be quite disciplined. The ergonomics had to be tested and proven in detail. Where is the med gas? Are the services within reaching distance of the surgeons in a very tight space? When the surgeon is working around the medical bench – where they work shoulder to shoulder – there must enough freedom for the surgeons to do their job, but the equipment must be right at their side so it’s within reach. The sightlines, the lighting, the microphones. It’s all recorded. So, viewers can see it in real time.”

Button spent weeks meeting with their partners, Dineen Construction. The tight tolerances. Putting everything within reach. Plotting out the ergonomics. Trying to gain 5 millimeters in ceiling height to hang equipment. There was so little space above the ceiling in the islet room that they couldn’t suspend the ceiling. It had to be supported from underneath.

How do you build within a sterile environment during a Covid lockdown?

“The trades had to go through the OR suites to access the regeneration rooms.” says Button, “They gowned up like they were surgeons. When they