AR used in knee replacement surgery
A surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York recently performed the first knee-replacement surgeries in the U.S. using augmented reality.
Jonathan Vigdorchik, M.D., last month replaced the knees of two patients, who suffered severe arthritis in their knee joints, while using special glasses that enabled him to review crucial surgical data while performing the operations.
Dr. Vigdorchik this week examined both patients, who are in their 50s, and reported they were doing well.
Augmented reality superimposes digital content, such as 3-D images or visual instructions, onto a user’s view of the real world through mobile devices and wearable headsets. Companies for years have been working with early versions of the technology in design, training and other areas. Increasingly, health-care providers have been expanding their use of AR for procedures that require extreme precision.
In knee surgery, the technology gives a surgeon the ability to see and follow operating plans projected onto the lens of smart glasses, allowing for more precise removal of bone and cartilage and more accurate positioning of a knee implant.
Read the full article on the WSJ here.