The Apple Vision Pro has been postulated as a disruption in the technological landscape. The era of spatial computing has been inaugurated, and one of the proposals that the Californians announced at WWDC in 2023 was that the viewer could be used as an assistant in surgeries. The field of medicine, thanks to the support of technology, has been evolving a lot in recent years. Even though it is a product that has just come out of the oven, it has marked a milestone. Do you want to know all the details? We tell you about them in this article!
The new mixed reality viewer from the Californian company has been used in a surgery. It happened at the Jaraguá Hospital in Brazil, where it was used as a support tool while the operation was being carried out. Yes: the medical team has operated with the glasses on. What type of surgery has been performed? What have been the functions that have been carried out? We see it below!
The Vision Pro has served as a visual guide
The surgery in which it has been used is a shoulder arthroscopy. This type of surgical procedure is used to treat and correct joint problems. The patient had a problem with his shoulder tendons. To do this, a tube with a camera is inserted through an incision in the affected area. Dr. Gobbato, in charge of carrying out the operation, has stated the following:
«Shoulder arthroscopy surgery uses a camera inside the joint and surgeons perform it while looking directly at a screen. With this device, I was able to see the image in the size of a movie screen with high resolution, in addition to being able to see patient exams and 3D models in real time.
The image from this camera could be seen directly on the Apple Vision Pro, in addition to having additional patient information. Furthermore, I saw, at all times, patient notes, x-rays of the injuries and was able to recreate, in three dimensions, a model of the parts of the shoulder, while seeing the images from the camera, inside the patient. In fact, it can be seen on YouTube, through the video that he himself uploaded.
To accomplish this, Use has been made of the dynamic range of the device’s cameras. However, their response, together with the fluidity and clarity of the images in real time, have also allowed us to clarify one of the possible impediments that the lighting could have caused. And which one was it? Basically, the use of the visor prevented us from correctly seeing the focuses that are centered on specific points of the body, on the operating table. Fortunately, this was not the case, and the surgery could be carried out completely normally.
The fact that this same surgeon, years ago, already used Microsoft HoloLens, also to serve as a guide in a surgical procedure, stands out.
