moving pegs from
one cup to another,
cutting objects, plac-
ing stitches, tying
knots — in a simula-
tion lab significantly
faster when working
with 3D imaging
instead of conven-
tional 2D flat
screens.
"In the near future,
polished laparo-
scopists will have developed their skills using 3D, because they'll have
had a lot of exposure to the technology when using the robot," says
Dr. Andriole. "When they're performing laparoscopy, they'll want to do
it in 3D."
The cost of 3D video platforms is decreasing, which should increase
its access and use. Like any other technological advance in surgery,
surgeons must also be willing to evolve past their two-dimensional
reality.
"You have to change the culture, and that's sometimes tough to do in
medicine," says Oren Tepper, MD, a plastic surgeon and assistant pro-
fessor of plastic surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine,
Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y.
He cites rhinoplasty — one of the most commonly performed sur-
geries in the U.S. each year — as a procedure that could benefit great-
ly from 3D technology.
"For years, surgeons have worked off of 2D images to plan the sur-
N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 1 0 7
• DEEPER LOOK Mark Packer, MD, says 3D heads-up displays provide the depth of
field needed to perform cataract surgery and increase surgeon comfort.
Mark
Packer,
MD
