The same ultra high definition imaging equipment used to make Oscar-winning film Mad Max: Fury Road is now in action within the operating rooms of a Queensland hospital.
In a first for Australia, The Sunshine Coast Private Hospital at Buderim has installed the 4K technology used for keyhole surgeries, such as gall bladder removal.
It produces images four times the resolution of the usual standard camera, allowing for greater accuracy and is key to safety surgery, says the hospital.
The normal resolution of a camera used in theatres is about 1.7 million pixels, the 4K cameras use eight million pixels.
Orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Bernard Tamba-Lebbie, who has been working with the technology for the past two weeks, says it allows him to easily differentiate between nerves - that look like "small spaghetti" - and ligaments.
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This improved accuracy and reduced risks to patients.
"The clarity is incredibly different and it's this clarity that allows you to see the extremely subtle differences that sometimes you can't always see, so it's very exciting," said Dr Tamba-Lebbie.
"If I don't pick up a nerve accidentally and I pick up the tendon then there is no trauma to the nerve."
The technology also helps to reduce surgery time.
It's understood other Australian hospitals have also purchased the equipment and are in the process of installing and implementing the technology, which is already being used in New Zealand, the US and Europe.
