Another benefit of EES: You can position endoscopic ear surgery to
patients as a more minimally invasive procedure. "It makes more
sense to patients, who are more informed and savvier about their
treatment options than ever, to tell them you can perform surgery
through the ear canal instead of making external incisions in order to
operate with the microscope," says Dr. Kozin. "Limiting soft tissue dis-
section results, at least theoretically, in less post-op pain. That's a
value-added benefit for patient care."
2
Image-guided navigation for sinus surgery
You can perform endoscopic sinus surgery with 2 types of image-
guidance modalities:
• Infrared guidance platforms communicate with and track a sur-
geon's own instruments through fiduciary markers you place on the
tools and the patient. The surgical team must maintain a line of sight
between the fiduciary markers on the instruments and the imaging
unit.
• Electromagnetic image-guidance platforms have traditionally
required surgeons to work with the system's proprietary instruments,
which were often bulky and didn't match the feel and performance of
the devices they're accustomed to using. Several manufacturers of
electromagnetic image-guidance platforms have created small adap-
tors you can place on surgeons' personal instruments.
"That's a big deal," says Brent Senior, MD, FACS, FARS, a professor of
otolaryngology at the University of North Carolina Health Care in
Chapel Hill. "Adaptors designed for use with standard instruments have
led to some surgeons — and some major manufacturers of image-guid-
ance systems — to transition away from using infrared guidance sys-
tems."
Augmented reality is also enhancing image-guided sinus surgery.
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