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maintaining the horizon.
As with high-definition images, there is no clinical proof that 3D visualization improves efficiency or outcomes. Yet as with HD, physicians are eager to get their hands on 3D technology to test its impact on identifying anatomy, dissecting tissues, positioning instruments and tying sutures. "Is 3D absolutely necessary?" asks Dr. Ross, director of minimally invasive surgery and surgical endoscopy at Florida Hospital's Southeastern Center for Digestive Disorders and Pancreatic Cancer, Advanced Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery in Tampa. "We've been doing laparoscopic surgeries in 2 dimensions just fine, so it's not absolutely necessary. But this might enable us to do them in a more precise way."
IMAGE GUIDED The ability to access diagnostic and surgical images and video both inside and outside the OR is a practical benefit.
Image portability
To some observers, the surgical imaging advance that'll pay off the most doesn't involve visualization, but functionality. "It's what surgeons can do with those images that's important," says Greg DeConciliis, PA-C, CASC, administrator of the Boston Out-Patient Surgical Suites in Waltham, Mass.
The rise of electronic medical documentation and recordkeeping
