A German surgeon has used an iPad with augmented reality software running on it to assist in a liver operation in Bremen, Germany, reports Reuters.
The iPad camera was used to photograph the liver, while the iPad app overlayed a virtual 3D model of the pre-op plan. Want to see what that looks like? Make sure you’re not eating anything before you look at the photos below the fold …
I did warn you. And there’s worse:
The key benefit of the app is enabling the surgeon to make the cuts in precisely the right places to minimize blood loss. Traditionally, the locations of blood vessels are mapped and taken into the operating room in printout form.
A very cool use of technology and possibly something we’ll see Google Glass doing too sometime soon.
- By simple marking on the touchscreen, the doctor can measure how long is a piece of container to be removed. Thus it can be estimated more accurately if he can sew together the remaining ends or must use another piece of container.
- After the surgeon has removed certain vessels, he can delete function on the touch screen with an “eraser”. The severed vessels disappear from the picture, and give a view on the underlying structures freely.
- If it is found during surgery, to remove the tumor is larger than expected, the surgeon must make other arrangements spontaneously. Here, too, can help the MEVIS App: If additional vessels are removed, it calculates which parts of the liver would therefore no longer sufficient blood supply. This allows the surgeon better assess whether the remaining organ volume is large enough so that the patient survived.
Thanks, Marco
