Zap! Surgery beyond the cutting edge

Carnegie, Jan/Feb 2001 by Jantz, Merle

SURGERY

Zap! showcases Pittsburgh's medical community as a leader in high-tech surgery, and Carnegie Science Center as an innovator of high-tech exhibits. The only traveling exhibit in the world to detail the trend toward less invasive surgery, it pri sents complex technologies and the science behind them through unique interactive experiences that appeal to a broad audience. All of the interactive programs were developed by CSC, including a 15-passenger motion simulator, and high-tech virtual reality components. The exhibits presentation methods, such as flat screen monitors, create a futuristic environment for the visitor.

It debuted at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland in October, 2000, where it was featured at the annual Association of Science and Technology Conference (ASTC), and was seen by science center representatives from all over the world. After Pittsburgh it begins its national tour to such diverse locations as Discovery Place in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Museum of Health and Medical Science in Houston, Texas; The Tech Museum in San Jose, California; OMSI, in Portland, Oregon; Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey; and other sites.

As a high visibility Pittsburgh export to science centers all over the country, it represents a major achievement of Carnegie Science Center and Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh.

ood morning, doctor. You've got a busy schedule today. First, the paramedics brought in a patient with a foreign object in her lung; then there's the brain tumor. After lunch, you've got the kidney stones to take care of, and then the liver tumors. Oh, and sometime today, you need to repair some leaking blood vessels on a three-foot wide eyeball.

Okay, maybe this is not the script of a television show like ER. But Zap! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge, starting its Pittsburgh run in its entirety next month at Carnegie Science Center, is still very cool.

Three years in the making, Zap! examines the scientific principles behind several surgical technologies: endoscopes, lasers, ultrasound, cryosurgery, and the Gamma Knife, which focuses gamma rays to destroy harmful structures in the brain without incision. It takes a close look at less invasive procedures that identify Pittsburgh as one of the world leaders in medicine.

"All of the technologies use scientific principles found in school curricula," says Linda Ortenzo, exhibit development specialist and project leader for the exhibit. "We stress how these principles are used in the technologies, to allow people to explore the ways that science can be used to solve problems. We also picked procedures that are likely to be experienced by a wide range of people, as well as things that make people say 'I didn't know they could do that!"'

Each of the five technologies is explained in a module (a group of interactives). Each module contains three areas: "Explore It," where interactive exhibits explain the basic principles behind the technology; "Real Stories/Real Surgery," videos of actual procedures accompanied by interviews with doctors, patients, and scientists and a clear picture of the risks and benefits of each type of surgery; and "Be the Surgeon," where you can put it all into practice and perform simulated surgical procedures. Unlike the real thing, when you make a mistake here, you can go back and start again.

Zap! is a lot to digest (Sorry. Unavoidable). There are nearly 40 interactives, counting ZapCam, a motion-simulator ride through the human body, and Zap! Jr., an area designated especially for young children. Fortunately, since the exhibit may require a return visit or two to absorb everything, it will be here all year.

To design and implement Zap!, the core project team of Ortenzo, Pete Feher (senior exhibit designer), Dr. Patty Antalis (exhibit development specialist), and Lauren Eckie (exhibit designer) spent enough time in operating rooms and doctors' and scientists' offices to almost hang out a shingle and start their own practices. Each portion of the exhibit was reviewed by a panel of doctors, nurses, teachers and scientists, including Ortenzo's sister, Col. Carole Ortenzo, M.D., a military surgeon at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

The surgeries portrayed in the exhibit run the gamut from tattoo removal and liposuction to the repair of vocal cords and the removal of tumors from the brain and the liver. Although the video clips give plenty of warning, you may want to preview them before watching them with younger children, as some of them can be slightly graphic. And, even though the surgeries are as minimally invasive as they can be, if you were considering liposuction as a quick and easy way to drop a few pounds, take a good look at the size of that probe they use-- training for the marathon might be a more pleasant option.

Each of the surgical processes featured in Zap! is minimally invasive, representing a dramatic change from past surgerical techniques, some of which are outlined in instruction panels that line the ZapCam ride.