Working with a charity called Lifebox, a group of surgeons collaborated to develop an inexpensive headlamp for use during operations in low- and middle-income countries that often face electricity outages, the group writes in JAMA Surgery.
The lights could be available as soon as next year if the group finds a manufacturer to partner with, the article's lead author, Thomas Weiser, MD, told Reuters.
"Our experience has been that when we were working in countries where the lighting was problematic, surgeons have had to come up with workaround solutions," Dr. Weiser said. "Most pull out a flashlight or cellphone light or figure out some other kind of makeshift, stopgap measure."
It can take up to 10 minutes for the power to kick back on, even when a hospital has a backup generator, Dr. Weiser said.
Having a good surgical light could have a significant effect on patient safety in poorer countries, where over 125 million operations are performed annually, the researchers said.