Taking cues from a Carpenter

Growing up, my dad was a carpenter—a true jack-of-all-trades. He’s a great resource, especially when working on older homes. I remember going to work on rental properties with him in our hometown of Winston-Salem, NC. When we arrived at the jobsite, we never started work immediately; the first step was always the setup.

*Not my dad's setup. Way too fancy!

My dad consistently used some sort of flat surface to organize his tools. Often, he’d create a makeshift worktable with two sawhorses and a long scrap piece of OSB. It didn’t matter what type of job we were tackling; he needed his table. As a kid, I’d get frustrated watching him spend ten minutes gathering screws and wood pieces to assemble this temporary, yet crucial, flat workspace. Now, looking back, I realize how much this practice influenced my career as an Interventional Radiology Technologist.

In the IR suite, I could never fully accept the disparity between the sleek, organized back table—with its ample storage for wires and catheters—and the uneven patient table, which was subject to the contours of the patient’s body. On my end of the table, below the feet, I meticulously arranged towels, bowls, balloons, and stents in the order they’d be used. This organization kept me prepared for what the physician would need next.

But I couldn’t ignore what was happening to my left. My neighbor to the left was hunched over, laser-focused on the screen, seemingly oblivious to their bent backs, slouched shoulders, or the fact that they were awkwardly levitating a catheter between the patient’s big toe and the femoral sheath. Sometimes, I’d find myself stretched as far as possible, holding the middle section of a triaxial catheter system because the physician only had two hands.

This scenario plays out daily in Cath, IR, EP, and vascular labs worldwide. In 2016, after several conversations with Dr. Jasmeet Singh, I decided to find a solution for our NIR lab at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center aka "The Baptist". My first step was to explore what was already on the market. What I found was prohibitively expensive. I knew medical equipment was pricey, but requesting capital funding for just one IR room wasn’t feasible, especially since we had five rooms to outfit.

Additionally, the existing “tabletop” solutions had significant drawbacks. They required at least two staff members to lift and clip the system onto the table, and the height was often inconsistent, ranging from 6 to 9 inches above the patient mattress. This variability and cumbersome setup process were far from ideal.

After extensive research, I concluded that we needed a solution tailored to our lab’s specific needs. The design would have to:

• Provide a consistent five-inch surface lift—the average measured pelvic height—to ensure a uniform “feel” for every case.

• Bring the workspace closer to the operator for improved ergonomic posture.

• Offer a level runway for multiple catheters and wires, extending to the end of the table.

• Be easy to set up quickly by a single person.

• Be flexible and cantilevered to accommodate even the largest patients.

  
  

Dr. Jeffrey Horvath, FMC. Stratus VIS-GE-P1 used on Philips bi-plane unit.

These requirements, combined with countless observations, led me to develop the Stratus Vascular Interventional Surface (VIS). The VIS was born from the same philosophy my dad instilled in me: if you take a little extra time on the setup, you’ll save yourself a lot of hassle later. I still tease my dad when he’s setting up his table for a project, but I’ve come to appreciate the wisdom behind his process. It’s the same wisdom that shaped the creation of the VIS and continues to guide my work today.

Christofer D. Burnette RT(R)(VI)

Interventional Radiology Technologist

Founder, Stratus LLC

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