Suffolk Completes Operating Suite

Boston  –  Suffolk Construction recently completed the multi-million dollar, Advanced Multimodality Image Guided Operating (AMIGO) suite at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).  A highly integrated, 5,700sf suite featuring three sterile procedure rooms, AMIGO represents the leading edge in surgical care, where image-guided surgical procedures will be introduced, tested, and perfected for the benefit of patients around the world.
The AMIGO suite will serve as the clinical arm and research test bed of the  National Center for Image
Guided Therapy (NCIGT) at BWH. Designed with new intraoperative  technology, the suite features a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) room, an operating room with  Angiography, and a Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/Computed Tomography (CT) room.
Suffolk worked closely with BWH, architect Payette, and IMRIS, a global   leader in image guided therapy solutions, to create a space that features a first-of-its-kind ceiling-mounted MRI that runs on rails between the MRI room and the operating room. This design allows the equipment, rather than the patient, to move between rooms, resulting in reduced trauma for the patient as well as increased patient safety.
The suite also provides the intraoperative use of advanced imaging techniques that help make
procedures more precise and enables surgeons to more fully assess the initial results before closing the
incision and completing the procedure. It is the first time that such a large variety of imaging
technologies are situated together in one space in an operating suite.
Suffolk’s team successfully addressed  a series of building challenges throughout the project. New design plans, including moving the MRI equipment from a floor-mounted to a ceiling-mounted set up, were implemented after extensive mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) coordination was completed. Building Information Modeling (BIM) was used to allow for a more streamlined installation of the new configuration.
The suite, located two floors below grade and under live operating rooms, featured a low 13-foot ceiling that required a substantial support system for the 33,000 pounds of ceiling mounted equipment and provided limited space to install the MEP systems . In addition, Suffolk implemented an innovative vibration dampening system to minimize disruptions to MRI imaging.