Surgical procedures often require real-time collaboration. But what happens when the expert you need is hundreds of kilometers away, or simply unable to be in the room?
More hospitals are facing this challenge as care expands across locations, teams grow in complexity, and time becomes increasingly limited. In these moments, the ability to receive trusted, live support without waiting or rescheduling can be critical.
So how can surgeons get remote support inside the operating room?
Let’s look at what’s possible today, and how hospitals are already doing it.
Why Remote Support Is Needed Now More Than Ever
Surgeons regularly encounter new devices, unfamiliar procedures, or high-pressure cases where they would benefit from a second pair of eyes or expert input.
But traditional approaches have limitations:
• In-person support requires travel, scheduling, and costs
• Phone calls offer no visual guidance
• Recording and reviewing procedures is reactive, not real-time
This is especially true for smaller hospitals, rural locations, or training centers that cannot always have a specialist on site. In these cases, the team in the OR needs a way to connect live with someone outside the hospital who can assist during the procedure.
How Remote Support Works in the OR
Remote support in the OR is about enabling seamless collaboration between healthcare professionals, wherever they are. With Rods&Cones, surgical teams can connect with remote experts through a secure setup that enables real-time audiovisual interaction and direct communication during procedures.
Remote participants can follow the surgery as it happens, listen to what’s taking place in the room, speak with the team, and provide support as needed. This approach is commonly used for mentoring, proctoring, training, and assistance from medical device specialists, without requiring physical presence.
It’s a straightforward way to ensure surgical teams can access the expertise they need, when they need it, without unnecessary delays or travel.
What Rods&Cones Offers
Rods&Cones provides a complete setup for remote surgical collaboration. Our tools make it easy for surgical teams to connect securely with remote viewers in real time.
This includes:
• Wearable headsets that share the surgeon’s perspective
• A secure dashboard for the remote viewer, accessible from any location
• Real-time audio and video communication between both sides
• Annotation tools to point out areas of focus during a procedure
• Compatibility with hospital privacy and data protection requirements
Rods&Cones is already being used by hospitals, medtech companies, and training centers in over 100 countries. Whether it is a proctor joining a surgery from another continent or a device expert assisting with a new tool, the goal is always the same: to bring clarity and confidence to the OR.
A Real-World Example
One leading European medtech company needed to expand its surgical proctoring capabilities while reducing the high costs and logistical challenges of in-person training. Traditionally, proctors and surgeons would travel to one of the company’s eight Centers of Excellence across Europe to conduct training sessions.
By equipping each center with Rods&Cones’ remote collaboration tools, the company was able to shift half of all proctoring sessions to a remote format. As a result, they:
Increased the number of trained mentees by 50 percent
Reduced overall proctoring travel by 60 percent
Saved more than 500,000 euros in one year
Decreased their CO₂ footprint by 26 tons
This approach not only supported their growth but also made proctoring more scalable, sustainable, and accessible for surgeons across the region.
Key Benefits
• Access to expert guidance anytime, from anywhere
• Reduced travel and wait times
• Better support for complex or rare procedures
• Scalable training and mentoring
• More efficient use of time and resources
Want to Learn More?
If your hospital or team is looking for ways to improve collaboration and deliver expert support during surgery, Rods&Cones can help. Get in touch to see how it works or to request a demo.
