Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Physicians' Clinic of Iowa unveiled an augmented reality system for otolaryngologic procedures, according to a Dec. 20 report in The Gazette.
PCI's ear, nose and throat/head and neck surgery clinic is the first practice in Iowa to use such a system, the report said. The clinic is using the Stryker ENT navigation system.
The AR system superimposes images from a patient's previous CT scans onto the surgical camera view.
"This technology was used in the operating room, but now we're pushing boundaries for what we can do as specialty — especially for sinus surgery — in the office," said Thomas Heineman, MD, a surgeon at PCI.
The Stryker system and others like it allow for more ENT procedures to become minimally invasive, thanks to increases in computer power and 3D technology. That means surgeons can perform more procedures with local anesthesia, which can be done in an outpatient setting.
"When I first started, there were just a few procedures a year in the office," Shane Gailushas, MD, a surgeon who uses a different navigation technology at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, told The Gazette. "Now, they're a good 20 percent of procedures I do in the office, which I was not able to do before until these technologies became available."