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While you may be looking at getting a new 4K, 3D or
even 8K video system in the future, you should also
prepare for adding augmented reality to your
ORs, says Rafael Grossmann, MD, FACS, a sur-
geon and healthcare futurist in Bangor, Maine.
He says the use of virtual, mixed and augment-
ed reality is going to challenge the current
healthcare model within the next couple of
years and let surgeons simulate surgical scenarios before and
even during procedures.
"Augmented or mixed reality will revolutionize how we perform
surgery," says Dr. Grossmann. "We will be able to interact with
images in a more powerful way than we do now."
There are already some manufacturers making a move into this
new landscape. In one augmented reality system used by Joshua
Bederson, MD, neurosurgeon and professor and chairman of
neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City,
surgeons can upload pre-op MRI or CT scans into the system and
use the technology to view 3D images of patient-specific anatomy.
Dr. Bederson notes that this lets the surgeon identify critical
structures to avoid, accurately highlight anatomical targets and
even program image-guidance systems to map out the best sur-
gical approach. Being able to overlay the images directly onto the
patient can allow for more precise surgery.
Though still not widespread, expect augmented reality to
appear in an OR near you within the next few years, says Dr.
Grossmann. "From training to diagnostic to treatment, you will
see this type of technology being used routinely," he says.
— Kendal Gapinski
A New Way of Seeing Surgery
• DOSE OF REALITY Rafael
Grossmann, MD, FACS, says
surgeons will interact with sur-
gical images to perform better
and safer surgery.
VIRTUAL REALITY
