The broadcast shows Prof. Irit Bachar, pictured, performing a corneal transplant at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel. Photo: Facebook.

JNS.org – The Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva on Tuesday became the first Israeli hospital to broadcast surgical operations in real time.

The broadcast, available to viewers in Israel and oversees on Clalit Health Care Services’ Facebook page, includes a Cesarean section; heart, corneal, and kidney transplants; a complex cardiac catheterization; and a robot-led prostate surgery.

In one procedure seen in the broadcast, operating surgeon Prof. Irit Bachar says, “We are in the midst of a complex corneal transplant surgery. We’re operating on a patient who has one eye. His other eye is a ‘lazy eye,’ and we’re replacing his cornea with a donor cornea.” The patient, a 60-year-old art teacher, had a successful result.

Live streaming of this nature is typically barred by Facebook, whose content policy prohibits posting bloody images. Complying with the social media giant’s directives, the Israeli hospital made sure not to show the more graphic parts of the procedures, focusing on the surgical staff and the technical aspects of the operations.

“We gave around 100,000 viewers a glimpse into what happens in the hospital,” Rabin Medical Center Director Prof. Eran Halpern said. “We believe in our professional standards and we have nothing to hide.”