Why Are LED Surgical Light Sources Replacing Xenon?

by Hospital Product Directory CEO

Surgeons require reliable high-intensity lighting to obtain clear discernibility of a surgical site, especially when operating in small, deep cavities. Supplementing overhead operating room illumination with surgical headlights delivers surgeons optimal lighting of the surgical site at all times, while minimalizing shadows within the cavity.

Until lately, only surgical headlights powered by Xenon light sources built by Surgical Light Sources Manufacturers offered the penetrating level of lighting desired by surgeons. With strength being the main cause of illumination and visibility, Xenon has been the favored light source – despite the problems Xenon presents, which are outlined throughout this article.

With recent developments in LED technology, though, surgeons now have access to LED light sources that offer high-intensity lighting equivalent to light sources that use a Xenon lamp.

To be precise, both Xenon and LED technologies are now able to deliver up to 220,000+ lux at an average working distance of 16 inches.

In addition to strength, constancy is a critical factor to consider when evaluating illumination quality.

Xenon lamps begin to dull after just 50 hours of use due to bulb cathode decline, bargaining illumination, and the consistency of illumination across the surgical field. Equally, LED light sources maintain veracity, providing stable, high-intensity lighting for over 10,000 hours without degradation.

Heat Emanation

High-intensity lighting unavoidably introduces the risk of high heat emission. The danger of patient burns and tissue injury caused by high heat emission from operating room illumination is well documented as a patient safety risk.

Multiple factors can donate to patient burns from OR lighting, the most predominant being immediacy to sources of light, be that endoscopic, overhead, or a headlight. The closer the light is to a patient, the more reduced the heat energy is, particularly with high-intensity lighting.

Deterrence does not have to be intricate. First and foremost, follow all safety defenses drawn in the operation guide provided by the Surgical Light Sources Manufacturers. The second line of defense is to pick the correct light source.

Xenon light sources output a considerable amount of infrared (IR) light, which is imperceptible to the human eye and perceived solely as heat.

LEDs produce high-intensity noticeable light, with no energy output in the infrared (IR) or ultraviolet spectrums – releasing significantly less heat than Xenon light sources.

At the same visible strength, Xenon’s increased energy production can lead to temperatures up to four times higher at the fiber optic cable tips than those linked to LED light sources, potentially snowballing the risk of tissue desiccation or damage.

The danger of Surgeon Eye Exhaustion

When light is too cheerful, too dim, and/or unpredictable, such as the light produced from Xenon sources, surgeons’ eyes are forced to repeatedly adjust and strain. As the eyes regulate under stress more often, they tiredness – leading to a condition aptly called eye tiredness.

Surgeons are highly vulnerable to eye exhaustion as they are exposed to high-intensity lighting for long periods in the operating room over many years. Eye exhaustion often manifests through indications of mild pain, headache, and sensitivity around the eyes, and in the nastiest cases, surgeons can even suffer enduring photochemical damage.

As defined above, Xenon light sources emit unpredictable brightness across the surgical field due to filament dilapidation. The eye is forced to regulate and strain as the illumination lowers, as well as readjust when the Xenon bulb is substituted to recover full strength – exposing surgeons to a recurrent cycle of optical change and thus, accelerating eye fatigue.

In contrast, LED light sources deliver steady intensity at an acceptable level of illumination for visual insight for over a decade, without over-illuminating the operating site. As a consequence, LEDs impose meaningfully less risk of optical impairment.

Endurance and ROI

Xenon bulbs need replacement at a much quicker rate than LED. While LEDs offer reliable high-intensity lighting for up to 15 years, Xenon bulbs only last up to 1,000 hours with illumination deprivation beginning after 50 hours of use. This radical inequality in lifespan means that Xenon light sources are related to higher costs and upkeep needs while using LED light sources reduces unit stoppage and annual upkeep expenses.

Xenon bulbs need substitution every 500 to 1,000 hours, producing frequent disturbance in unit availability, saddling workflows with supplementary upkeep, and potentially impacting surgical performance due to unit stoppage.

Adapting to an LED light source made by Surgical Light Sources Manufacturers not only meaningfully surges unit uptime, but also provides considerable ROI within the first year.