8 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 1 9
Stryker
1588 Advanced Imaging Modalities
(AIM) Platform
stryker.com
I've always had this bee in my bonnet
about how, for 30 years of laparo-
scopic surgery, the only thing we've
really ever done with the image is go
from standard definition to high defi-
nition to 4K. Obviously, increased
image resolution is great, but there's
also so much potential to manipulate
the image and give surgeons superhu-
man abilities to see things they otherwise can't, or just see them more
clearly and distinctly. With conventional white light, it's tough for a
surgeon to see specific structures. With near-infrared fluorescence
imaging, you can see anatomic structures like blood vessels and vas-
cular perfusion much more easily during surgery, which saves time
and improves accuracy. That's why it's exciting that a growing number
of companies, Olympus and Karl Storz among them, now offer fluo-
rescence imaging.
Stryker provides that same sort of fluorescent technology, with an
important twist. In most cases, when fluorescence imaging is activat-
ed, you go to a black-and-white image and it kind of glows wherever
the fluorescence is. With the Stryker system, you see the full-color
white light image, and it overlays a color, like green, based on where
the computer says the fluorescence is coming from. This is a classic
case of augmented reality (AR). Fluorescence imaging is, in itself, a
huge area for surgery, expanding our ability to identify landmarks.
This is the next level.
