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V I D E O I M A G I N G
FRONTLINE FEEDBACK
HD and 3D: Imaging's Difference Makers
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PICTURE PERFECT Surgeons love the detail
HD offers and are intrigued by 3D's potential.
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There aren't many surgeons who want to think about a world without high def. "The HD we have now is light years ahead of where we were 10 years ago," says David Renton, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of surgery at Ohio State University's Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery in Columbus.
"A number of times we've taken a look at a high-def and a non-high-def picture side by side in the operating room," says Jeffrey W. Hazey, MD, associate professor of general surgery at Ohio State University Medical Center. "You really don't appreciate the difference until you're able to compare images in that setup. It's like being able to see the faces of football players inside their helmets on high-def televisions. You can use the same analogy for seeing blood vessels and other structures during surgery. It improves every-
body's ability to do the operation."
Sharona Ross, MD, agrees that HD is great, but believes combining it with 3D technology truly elevates the image quality. "I think the move to 3D will eventually have more impact than the move from standard to HD," says the director of minimally invasive surgery and surgical endoscopy at Florida Hospital's Southeastern Center for Digestive Disorders and Pancreatic Center, Advanced Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery in Tampa.
Indeed, surgeons who've seen 3D in action tend to be impressed, but not just by the quality of the visualization. The price tag also makes a big impression.
"I'm a believer. I would love to have 3D visualization in my operating room for all my cases," says Dr. Hazey, "but I've got to be able to justify the increased cost. We're being asked to go to a value equation: quality over cost. If you increase cost, you've got to increase quality proportionately or better. That's where 3D might hit a snag. Right now there are no studies that show quality is improved enough to justify the increased cost."
The data may be lacking, but the benefits are clear, says Dr. Ross. "We could and we
