In a groundbreaking move within the medical field, UC San Diego Health's team of minimally invasive surgeons is now the first in the United States to bring spatial computing into the operating room, specifically utilizing the Apple Vision Pro. According to UC San Diego Health, a clinical trial spearheaded after several months of preliminary testing at UC San Diego's Center for the Future of Surgery aims to discern the practical benefits of integrating this cutting-edge technology into surgical procedures.
Dr. Santiago Horgan, Chief of Minimally Invasive Surgery at UC San Diego Health and director of the center above, expressed optimism about the new tech, "As surgeons, we are always looking for technologies that can help us deliver more safe and precise surgeries for our patients," Dr. Horgan mentioned the criticality of a surgeon's sensory experience in the operating room has a direct correlation to patient outcomes, with the latest trial exploring how an app capable of streaming video feeds from various devices, such as Apple Vision Pro, might influence decision-making during surgery this new method affords surgeons the chance to visualize real-time data including patient’s medical images, vital stats and the surgical field of view, as detailed by UC San Diego Health.
Patients gave informed consent before integrating this app into their surgeries, and the Institutional Review Board sanctioned the trial to ensure high patient safety standards among research participants. In the study's design, surgeons simultaneously utilize the novel Apple Vision Pro setup alongside the conventional array of operating room monitors, ensuring a reliable comparison to standard practices.
Surgery can vary from short, half-hour procedures to long, exhausting ones that strain a surgeon's body, especially their neck and shoulders. Dr. Ryan Broderick, the lead researcher, noted that minimally invasive surgeons often suffer from musculoskeletal pain due to using multiple imaging systems. He thinks a new spatial computing platform might help by creating a virtual space to display all the needed information, making the process smoother and reducing tech-related crowding in the operating room.
