Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

The resilience of body ownership illusion in a virtual reality environment amidst visual-tactile asynchronies

Trabalho de conclusão de curso (graduação)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Departamento de Ciência da Computação, 2021.To guarantee a good experience in virtual reality is of interest to both industry and the scientific community. That made the interest in understanding the body ownership illusion increase. This research evaluates two types of visual- tactile asynchronies to better understand the limits of the illusion. First, a virtual environment was designed to induce the volunteers into the illusion. Following that, some visual- tactile asynchronies were inserted throughout the experiment. The majority of volunteers did not report any interruption of the illusion where it was expected to happen, i.e., where asynchronies were purposefully added in a try to break the illusion. Analyzing the data collected, it was possible to conclude that the body ownership illusion is stronger than anticipated. It is so strong, in fact, that it is conjectured that there is some sort of alternative rationalization happening in the volunteers’ minds to make sense of the mismatches between the expected sensory inputs and the actual ones. Or, at least, something similar to this effect