How does a hospital operating room system achieve high-precision synchronous control of temperature and humidity within the operating room?
Publish Time: 2026-01-14
In modern medical buildings, clean operating rooms are not only the core location for surgical procedures but also a crucial barrier for controlling hospital-acquired infections and ensuring patient safety. The constant temperature and humidity air conditioning automatic control system, acting as the "central nervous system" of operating room environmental control, plays a vital role in maintaining the stability of multiple parameters such as temperature, humidity, airflow, and pressure differential. Especially during surgeries where temperature and humidity are highly sensitive, the hospital operating room system must achieve a temperature accuracy of ±0.5℃ and a humidity control of ±3%RH to ensure a sterile environment, normal equipment operation, and patient and staff comfort.1. Multi-sensor fusion sensing to build a precise environmental feedback networkHigh-precision control relies on accurate sensing. The operating room's constant temperature and humidity system deploys high-sensitivity temperature and humidity sensors in key areas to collect environmental data in real time. Simultaneously, the system integrates auxiliary sensors such as wind speed, pressure differential, and CO₂ concentration, forming a multi-dimensional environmental monitoring network. This data undergoes high-speed sampling and filtering processing through an industrial-grade controller, effectively eliminating instantaneous interference and providing a reliable basis for subsequent control.2. Intelligent Algorithm-Driven Decoupled and Coordinated Temperature and Humidity ControlTemperature and humidity are highly coupled in air handling processes—cooling easily dehumidifies, while heating may increase humidity, making traditional control prone to inconsistencies. To address this, modern operating room air conditioning systems employ decoupled control algorithms, treating temperature and humidity as two independent but related variables and adjusting them separately. For example:When cooling and dehumidification are required, the system first deeply cools the air below the dew point using refrigeration coils, then fine-tunes it to the target temperature via a reheat section.In low-humidity winter environments, electrode-type humidifiers precisely inject steam, while simultaneous heating maintains the temperature.The entire process is dynamically coordinated by a central controller, involving the cold/heat source, humidifier, fan frequency, and other actuators, achieving the optimal path of "dehumidification first, then temperature adjustment" or "synchronous fine-tuning," avoiding overcooling, overheating, or humidity fluctuations.3. Variable Frequency and Zoned Air Supply Technology Enhances Response Speed and UniformityTo quickly respond to changes in setpoints and maintain spatial uniformity, the system commonly employs a variable frequency fan + high-efficiency filter ceiling design. The air supply volume can be adjusted in real time according to the load, reducing unnecessary energy consumption. The top-mounted, fully-covered high-efficiency air supply panels create a vertical unidirectional airflow, ensuring highly uniform temperature and humidity distribution in the surgical area, with temperature differences controlled within ±0.3℃. Simultaneously, the return and exhaust systems, in conjunction with differential pressure control, ensure that airflow always flows from the clean area to the contaminated area, preventing cross-infection.4. Multiple Redundancies and Safety Interlocks Ensure Continuous and Stable OperationThe operating room environment cannot be interrupted. The system is equipped with dual power supplies, backup humidification/cooling modules, and fault self-diagnosis functions. If the main sensor fails, the backup sensor immediately takes over; if humidity exceeds the standard, the system can automatically increase the fresh air dehumidification ratio or activate the emergency dehumidification unit. Furthermore, temperature and humidity control is deeply interlocked with subsystems such as fire protection, access control, and purification units—for example, automatically increasing air supply to maintain positive pressure when the operating door is opened, ensuring that environmental parameters are always within safe thresholds.The high-precision synchronous control of the hospital operating room system is the result of a deep integration of sensor technology, intelligent algorithms, mechatronics, and medical standards. Furthermore, the stable, clean, and comfortable environment provides a safeguard for high-risk surgeries. In the future, with the introduction of AI predictive control and digital twin technology, operating room environment control will enter a new stage that is more intelligent and proactive.
