you see with your own eyes lets you immerse yourself in the image,"
says Dr. Grossmann. "And the more immersed you are in the image,
the more you're able to conduct experiential learning."
It will take time before planning for surgery with augmented reality
becomes mainstream, but 3D video is already catching the eye of pro-
gressive surgeons in high-tech ORs.
Eyeing the benefits
There is perhaps no group of docs who benefits more from 3D imag-
ing than ophthalmic surgeons, who are able to perform heads-up sur-
gery by looking at images on a large flat-screen monitor instead of
squinting through a microscope's oculars.
Mark Packer, MD, an ophthalmic surgeon in Boulder, Colo., says 4K
high-definition video is key to realizing the full benefit of 3D imaging.
He also points out that a fast image processor is needed so there's no
lag time between the movement of instruments in the eye and how
those movements appear on the screen.
Dr. Packer acknowledges that 3D imaging has not been proven to
make eye surgery safer, but he believes it does make some proce-
dures more effective. For example, 3D imaging, when combined with
iris registration software and intraoperative aberrometry, can improve
astigmatism correction during cataract surgery by guiding surgeons to
make accurate limbal-relaxing incisions in the cornea and align
implanted toric IOLs along the correct astigmatic axis.
The real-time registering of pre-op ocular biometric measurements
with live intraoperative images of the eye shows the surgeon exactly
how the lens should be aligned, which is crucial when accounting for
cyclotorsion, the slight rotation of the eye that occurs when the
patient lies down on the surgical table. The eye tends to rotate about
6 degrees when patients lie prone, and that seemingly slight shift
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