FIRST OPERATION IN ITALY ON WRIST AND RHIZOARTHROSIS WITH AUGMENTED REALITY

The Hand Surgery Team has reconstructed the ligament of a wrist and implanted a prosthesis for rhizoartrosis with the help of augmented reality. By 3D viewers, the surgeons could visualize the operating field and useful information on patient, sharing them with colleagues from all over Italy.

First operations of wrist and hand surgery with augmented reality at the Clinica San Francesco to confirm the pioneering spirit of the facility. A new technology – until now used mainly in some sector as air force – that uses a 3D viewer to show, next to real elements, also essential virtual objects to give more information on the patient and lead the surgeon during operation.

The orthopaedic surgeons, specialized in hand surgery, Drs Enrico Carità, Alberto Donadelli and Mara Laterza, on Tuesday 9th March 2021 entered into operating room with gloves, scalpels, masks and 3D viewers. Both operations were performed with the collaboration of Dr Pier Paolo Borelli and remote assistance of 4Solid, the software developer of this technology. During the first operation an important wrist ligament, damaged after a trauma, was reconstructed. During the second one, instead, was treated a rhizoarthrosis implanting a state-of-the-art trapeze-metacarpal prosthesis, that represents a particularly specialized element of the Clinic.

“The use of augmented reality allows to increase the precision of the surgical gesture – Dr Carità explains – visualizing in parallel with the operating field the instrumental tests of patient, technical notes and preoperative planning especially during the replacement. Thanks to the augmented reality it was possible to carry out the operation visualizing in operating field all the instrumental tests and preoperative planning of patients in the form of holograms. All this live: indeed several Italian surgeons were connected and could attend and interact with us”

An innovative system that finds its great utility in sharing the surgical act, in the possibility to show new procedures and help possibly the colleagues during the operation.

“The connected colleagues could comment, ask, express opinions during the most critical steps – Drs Carità and Donadelli conclude -. This new technology will allow to break down the distances, putting national and international specialists in touch and sharing technical, surgical and rehabilitative information. It will be also able to be used for the training helping remotely who wants to carry out operations particularly difficult or needs technical support”.