As artificial intelligence and other technologies enter medicine, increasingly more doctors are showing interest in how these innovations could change all facets of patient care – including surgery.
Augmented reality (AR) smart glasses are wearable devices that enhance people’s interaction with the world around them. That is one such technology that has wider application.
“AR devices give users a greater view of their surroundings by superimposing digital images, graphics and data onto the physical environment they see through the glasses,” said Paul Travers, president and CEO of Latest York-based Vuzix, a number one provider of smart glasses and AR technologies and products. in an interview with Fox News Digital.
In the operating room, smart glasses allow surgeons to access the essential information they need in real time, hands-free – without having to take their eyes off the procedure to check the computer screen.
1 / 4 of US surgeons have already began using AR smart glasses.
Meanwhile, an extra 31% of surgeons are considering using them, according to a study by global research firm Censuswide, which gathered insights from greater than 500 surgeons across America.
Forty-nine percent of surgeons said they imagine AR smart glasses could reduce complications and deaths in the operating room, according to a study commissioned by Vuzix.
![Surgeon](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000013008454.jpg?w=1024)
Other advantages cited by surgeons included greater access to detailed information in their field of regard, less need to go in and out of the operating room, and potential reductions in surgical equipment and staff costs, according to a press release announcing the findings.
Surgeons also said AR glasses could promote collaboration with distant clinical teams and will speed up pre-surgery preparation.
“This report reveals the transformative power of AR technology to improve patient outcomes,” said Travers.
“With the provision of real-time information, distant assistance and advanced visualization capabilities, AR smart glasses could revolutionize operations.”
![Augmented reality (AR) smart glasses are used to assist doctors in various aspects of their work, including surgery.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000013008453.jpg?w=1024)
The Vuzix smart glasses are designed specifically for operating in the operating room, noted Travers.
Unlike other larger, bulkier models, he said, they are “super light” at just 2.8 ounces. “They move right next to the eye loops that the doctor wears,” he added.
“The newest pair we just introduced, ultralight, looks exactly like a pair of Oakleys,” said Travers
AR meets AI: “Game-changing things”
![Surgeon](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000013008451.jpg?w=1024)
Some firms using Vuzix smart glasses technology, corresponding to the Proxima virtual surgery platform, mix AR smart glasses with artificial intelligence.
“Proxima uses smart glasses to record operations, put them right into a database, and use AI to return and compile all that information,” Travers said.
“In this manner, it can be available until the next time this operation is performed, together with all the experiences which have happened in the past.”
“AR smart glasses could revolutionize surgical operations.”
For instance, if a surgeon places a stent during heart surgery, the AI engine could make recommendations on the best kind of stent for that exact patient based on the past hundreds of comparable surgeries.”
“The AI engine may help guide the best form of solutions live in the OR,” said Travers. “It is a game changer when you might have a history of hundreds of surgeries at the doctor’s beck and call in live surgery.”
Collaboration for higher patient outcomes
One in all the primary uses of Vuzix AR smart glasses is the collaboration of physicians in different locations.
The glasses are equipped with sensors, cameras and connectivity for an interactive experience. These include streaming what the user sees to a distant expert who may give directions and even draw or describe what the user sees in real time, Travers said.
For instance, a health care provider in South Africa may have help along with your first open heart procedure. On this case, an authority from San Francisco or Latest York can log in and aid you remotely.
“It’s like standing right next to a health care provider in an operating room in South Africa – he can draw what the doctor sees on a 4K TV-quality camera image overlay and say, ‘Cut this tissue first’ or ‘Use this stent as an alternative of that one.'” Travers explained.
He said that in this sort of scenario, the technology could actually help save a patient’s life.
![Surgeon](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/06/NYPICHPDPICT000013008455.jpg?w=1024)
Glasses ‘mix two different views into one view’
Doctors also use Vuzix smart glasses to improve the training of medical students.
One example Travers cites is a health care provider who’s preparing for open-heart surgery and needs to teach 300 students how to perform this particular kind of procedure.
Using AR smart glasses, the doctor can stream video and audio in 4K TV quality during his work.
“When a health care provider performs surgery, students around the world can log right into a HIPAA-compliant live stream, and the doctor can describe each step along the way,” he said.
AR glasses offer a “huge step forward” in this sort of training, which shouldn’t be physically possible in the operating room, noted Travers.
“The five individuals who are around the doctor have enough space to help him with the operation,” he said. “There is not any way one other person could sit there, let alone see what is going on on in the chest cavity of the one who’s being operated on.”
Ahmed Ghazi, a Latest York associate professor of urology and oncology at Johns Hopkins University’s Brady Neurological Institute, used the Vuzix smart glasses during surgery, primarily to train and educate students in various locations.
The trainee wears glasses that project what the person sees onto a transparent frame that overlays Ghazi’s hands over the field of regard.
“The glasses mix two different views into one view, so I can watch what the intern is doing,” Ghazi told Fox News Digital. “They see my hands instructing them how to maneuver through a certain a part of the procedure.”
Potential threats and limitations
One in all the primary limitations that Ghazi has encountered with smart glasses is that there can sometimes be delays in the transmission of data when using Wi-Fi.
Nonetheless, with a solid web connection, he said it worked thoroughly.
“We had just a few dropped connections in the starting, but after the update we did not have that problem anymore,” he said.
As for using the Vuzix glasses in surgery, Ghazi said he believes the hardware and software are in place to make this possible, but more testing needs to happen first.
“We’d have to undergo testing to be 100% sure there are no dropped connections or technical issues compared to other varieties of virtual or augmented reality platforms,” he said.