Augmented reality (AR), a technology that superimposes computer-generated information on a user's view of the real world, offers a new platform to help physicians better visualize complex medical data, particularly before and during medical procedures. A new self-contained AR device aims to provide an immersive AR experience in which surgeons can interactively explore data in three dimensions.
Jihye Jang, a PhD Candidate at the Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (MR) Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and colleagues assessed AR's potential to help cardiologists visualize myocardial scarring in the heart as they perform ventricular tachycardia ablation or other electrophysiological interventions. Myocardial scarring can occur in people who experience a heart attack and also stems from the surgical repair of congenital heart disease. The team's findings, published in PLOS ONE, demonstrate that the new augmented reality technology confers a number of advantages.
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"Our report is one of the first efforts to test augmented reality in cardiovascular electrophysiological intervention," said Jang. "Our next steps will expand the use of AR into treatments for arrhythmia by merging the scar information with electrophysiology data."
See the full story here: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/bidm-arm102418.php