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NEW Wireless LED Technology: SurgiTel Wireless Air

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ErgoPractice News – February 2018

Recently, several wireless LED headlights have been introduced to eliminate the need for electrical wires which connect LED lights to battery packs. However, many of these wireless options have several issues including weight, mechanical switching, and/or beam quality. As the latest member of the family of SurgiTel LED headlights developed to resolve these issues, the Wireless Air will be introduced in February 2018.

SurgiTel’s NEW Wireless Air Headlight

The Wireless Air LED headlight is a lightweight version of our first Odyssey Wireless LED headlight which was introduced in 2017 and has become one of the most popular headlight options.

Although the Odyssey Wireless LED weighs less than two ounces, some users may still struggle with the weight because the light is attached directly to the loupe. To address this concern, SurgiTel developed its newest headlight, the Wireless Air LED headlight (Figure 1).

The Wireless Air features all of the benefits of SurgiTel LED headlights in a miniaturized package. Its high quality, achromatic beam produces a clear and even beam at all distances, and the color balanced beam offers excellent color accuracy. Its reduced weight makes this headlight a more comfortable option for clinical lighting.

Lightweight and comfortable clinical LED headlights have become a necessity in dental and medical practices. Loupe-mounted headlights are much more convenient than traditional clinical lighting, as they are portable and aligned to the direct line of sight, helping clinicians provide better care. Today SurgiTel offers several styles of LED headlights, which we have developed over time.

A Brief History of SurgiTel Headlights

SurgiTel’s first headlight was made using miniaturized halogen light bulbs, and was introduced in the early 1990s. Soon after, we introduced loupe-mounted, lightweight fiber optic lights for surgical procedures. These lightweight optics eliminated the need for heavy headbands, reducing musculoskeletal stress and relieving some of the neck and back pain experienced by surgeons.1

In the early 2000s, SurgiTel began developing portable headlights that used LED chips1 and introduced various LED headlight models. These LED headlights are Odyssey LED (with Micro and Mini optics options), Eclipse Micro LED (with Micro and Mini optics options) which use touchless switching technology, and Surgical Headband LED. These headlights allowed users to choose between neutral and cool color beams. This option is important as we’ve discovered that neutral color beams result in better color rendering and less glare for dental procedures, while cool color beams can better enhance certain anatomical features during surgery. All of SurgiTel’s LEDs now have this option.

In early 2017 SurgiTel released its first wireless headlight, the Odyssey Wireless LED. This innovation is SurgiTel’s first totally self-contained and cord-free light, and allows clinicians to operate with the highest quality LED optics in a completely portable package. This headlight paved the way for our newest LED product, the Wireless Air, which will be introduced at this year’s annual Mid-Winter Chicago Dental Meeting which will start on February 22, 2018.

Why SurgiTel LED Headlights?

SurgiTel LEDs are designed to meet two primary requirements:
  1. They help users see the accurate color of their targets, and
  2. They are not harmful to the eyes.2 Our LEDs meet these requirements, and also secondary requirements like being lightweight and having touchless switching.

All SurgiTel LED headlights, including the Wireless Air, feature a patented multi-lens system that generates an achromatic beam. This system spreads the light wavelengths evenly, creating a clear and even light spot with no hot spots or glare (Figure 2).3 Clinician’s Report has compared the beam quality of various wireless lights and determined that most LED lights are not achromatic. They produce uneven beams that have bright central spots and faded edges, making it difficult to perceive details throughout the entire beam area.4

In addition to an achromatic beam, SurgiTel recognizes that for clinicians to do their best work, it is important that their LED is color accurate. SurgiTel has worked to make our neutral headlight option as close to sunlight as possible, which results in better color accuracy and easier cosmetic work (Figure 2). Our patented achromatic beam stays constant despite changes to working distance, and has a clear and even light spot. Because our LEDs do not have one bright central spot like many of our competitors, users are able to perceive details throughout the entire beam area.

Finally, perhaps the most important feature of SurgiTel headlights is that they are the safest LED headlights available for dental and medical professionals. Research indicates that extended exposure to cool blue LEDs, especially if magnified by loupes, can result in retinal damage and early-onset macular degeneration.5 Dental professionals already routinely protect themselves from this type of light by using protective lenses during curing procedures.

These cool blue lights are particularly dangerous because the blue spectral band and the green/red spectral band are not properly balanced. Figure 3 shows the way in which other LED headlights peak in intensity in the blue spectral band, leaving the user’s eyes vulnerable to damaging blue light. SurgiTel’s LED headlights feature balanced blue and green color peaks. In an independent report, Clinician’s Report evaluated nine major cordless headlights and found both SurgiTel’s cool and neutral LED options to have the most color balanced and safest light beams.4

Vision and Ergonomics at Work

Discover how SurgiTel’s Wireless Air can help you see better and work safer.

For more information, or to try it in person, contact your local representative at www.SurgiTel.com/myrep.

 

References:
  1. Chang, BJ. Advances in SurgiTel Headlights: Design Considerations of LED Headlights for Color Accuracy and Eye Safety, ErgoPractice News, March 2014. www.surgitel.com/news
  2. Chang, BJ. Why Color Balanced SurgiTel Wireless LED Lights?, ErgoPractice News, May 2017. www.surgitel.com/news
  3. Chang, BJ. What is an Achromatic LED and Why is it Important?, ErgoPractice News, October 2017. www.surgitel.com/news
  4. Clinicians Report. Cordless LED Headlamps: A Bright Idea?, A Publication of CR Foundation, May 2017. www.surgitel.com/cr
  5. Stamatacos C, Harrison J. The Possible Ocular Hazards of LED Dental Illumination Applications. Journal of the Tennessee Dental Association, Vol.92, No. 2. 2013.