Augmented reality helps transform minimally invasive surgery
A team from a leading London facility has used an augmented reality (AR) headset to examine CT images alongside an endoscopic video of patient anatomy while simulating minimally invasive surgery. The technology led to improved operating times and surgical proficiency.
For minimally invasive surgeries such as ureteroscopy, operating clinicians generally examine a live endoscopic video of the patient for guidance during the procedure. A downside with this technique is that it requires clinicians to switch their gaze between the surgical site and a computer monitor displaying the endoscopic view. This disruption to the visual-motor axis during surgery has been associated with a variety of problems, from restricting surgical performance to increasing the risk of injuries, the authors note.
In the current study, Al Janabi and colleagues tested the effectiveness of using augmented reality to address the limitations of standard ureteroscopy. They specifically evaluated the capacity of an AR headset (HoloLens, Microsoft) to facilitate ureteroscopy simulations for 72 participants of varying expertise – including medical students (novice), urological residents or trainees (intermediate), and endourology specialists (expert).
See the full article here: https://physicsworld.com/a/augmented-reality-helps-transform-minimally-invasive-surgery/