Dr. Ross sits at the robot's controls for virtually all types of hernia
procedures, from ventral and hiatal to inguinal and abdominal-wall
repairs.
If the increased use of robot-assisted surgery is dominating the pres-
ent, what's the future of abdominal surgery hold? Within the next 3 to
5 years, you can expect augmented or virtual reality and other high-
tech imaging technologies to become commonplace. Cleveland Clinic
is at the forefront of this movement.
Surgeons there recently used augmented reality for the ablation of a
liver tumor. Rather than working off 2D images on a flat-panel screen,
they used the technology to project and layer holographic images on
top of their real-world view of the patient's actual anatomy.
"People refer to interactive technology as 'augmented reality,' but I
prefer the term 'mixed reality,'" says Rafael Grossmann, MD, FACS, a
healthcare futurist and practicing surgeon in Bangor, Maine. "You're
superimposing the augmented reality over real images and having
them interact. This technology is going to explode soon and cause a
real change in how we do surgery."
He expects mixed reality technology to have a significant impact
on abdominal procedures, from ablating lesions on the liver to
draining fluid from a cavity or abscess to performing percutaneous
biopsies.
Dr. Ross also sees robotic imaging technology playing a pivotal
role in abdominal surgery. For example, she points out the da Vinci
platform has added image segmentation capabilities that augment
the vision, decision-making and physical abilities of the surgeon. The
technology turns 2D CT or MRI images into 3D images, and a soft-
ware algorithm lets the surgeon manipulate the 3D images in real
time from inside the robot's control console.
This version of the robot would "basically turn your physicians
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