AR used by Stanford Medicine to see real-time data during surgery
One of the first groups to use novel augmented reality technology in surgical practice is a team of physicians and biomedical engineers from Stanford Medicine. With the use of virtual and real-time visual data, the Apple Vision Pro headset technology facilitates human-computer interaction by enabling its users to explore their environment.
According to Lloyd Minor, Vice President, Medical Affairs, Stanford University, and dean of the school of medicine, the creative use of AR in the surgical area is a perfect illustration of Stanford Medicine’s mission to supply patients with a modern, compassionate care environment. He is excited because they additionally establish the secure, accountable, and just utilisation of these breakthroughs via initiatives like RAISE Health. Their healthcare system has always been at the cutting-edge of medical applications for digital technology.
This week at Stanford Hospital, a cardiologist effectively treated atrial fibrillation using an ablation treatment using technology, with the patient’s informed permission.
Stanford Health Care’s surgical suites and interventional platform are outfitted with the latest technology. David Entwistle, president and CEO of Stanford Health Care, believes that spatial image processing has enormous potential to improve the operating setting. He said he is excited to take the lead in determining how this equipment can best assist and improve the excellent care doctors and nurses provide to their patients.
With its novel approach to virtual multitasking, education, and entertainment, augmented reality is gaining popularity. Users may use the goggles to browse the web, view movies, talk with friends who live far away, and participate in a variety of other digital activities. However, doctors and technologists at Stanford Medicine questioned whether spatial computing-powered augmented reality would be useful in operating rooms.
The hospital has amazing biomedical engineering and healthcare IT departments, said Michael Pfeffer, MD, and Stanford Health Care chief information officer (CIO), who took a fresh, ready-made device and modified it to evaluate new big concepts. He underlined that they would like to be at the cutting-edge of gaining knowledge about how this fresh innovation may be used in the healthcare industry.
Biomedical engineering, in the words of Adam Alkhato, administrative head of medical engineering at Stanford Medicine’s Technology and Digital Solutions, is the stage at which the fields of medicine and technology are integrated. Establishing robust connections with medical service lines at Stanford Medicine is important as those involved investigate, develop, and implement cutting-edge health technologies. This is a fantastic illustration of such cooperation.
An ablation, a standard treatment used to treat heart arrhythmias, which cause fast or irregular heart rhythms, was carried out during the operation by Stanford Health Care cardiac electrophysiologist Alexander Perino, MD. Perino usually observes a number of monitors during an ablation, one of which displays an anatomically correct live image of the patient’s heart along with the tools he employs to treat arrhythmia-causing cardiac regions. Other displays provide vital signs, X-rays, and ultrasound pictures, among other crucial data required to carry out the treatment.
According to Perino, an operating room cannot have enough space for all eight displays showing different real-time data to be placed in a convenient location and have their contents analysed. He said that since doctors and proceduralists cannot interact directly with the information stored in the databases that are in place, staff members must help with the commonly inefficient method for collecting and altering data.
Perino uses the spatial computing headgear to swiftly and independently manage virtual monitors by receiving and displaying safe real-time data from a workstation. All the information required to complete the process is included in these monitors. Additionally, Perino can view the patient and operating area as normal while wearing the headset.
His eye movements are detected and his attention is maintained via the headgear. He can rearrange the displays or zoom in on different data streams with a fast hand gesture or squeeze of the fingers.
Perino claimed that he could freely adjust the virtual displays to a more comfortable angle and then enlarge them twice to improve legibility.
