allowing us to do
new types of opera-
tions. I don't think
we're at that point
yet," he says. "But
for the operations I
am doing, it pro-
vides important
assistance. Allowing
me to discriminate
where different tis-
sue is, sparing small
structures, separat-
ing tiny 1 mm ves-
sels, nerves and lym-
phatic tissue. Letting
me know that I'm
next to a critical blood vessel, so I don't want to cut too deep."
While Dr. Eun sees 3D surgical imaging becoming more of a main-
stay in academic facilities, where it will have great value in teaching
— "3D is a huge part of the ability to teach and see what trainees are
doing," he says. "It's a lot harder to teach in 2D." — he adds that it is
beneficial for any surgeon to get a deeper view. "I would rather take
lower resolution in 3D than higher resolution in 2D," he says.
Trialing the technique
While the experiential, anecdotal testimony of users and instructors
like Dr. Eun describes how 3D HD video can assist surgical technique,
there is no solid proof that its visual effects will improve your
patients' outcomes over the long term. Still, the technology has been
the subject of clinical research worldwide. If you're not yet sold on its
benefits, here are 4 other evidence-based reasons that you might want
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | February 2015
z LOOK INSIDE The remote console of a robotic surgi-
cal system offers binocular vision for depth perception.
Intuitive
Surgical
