New technology allows two local surgeons to plan a surgery, see 3D image while doing it
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POCATELLO — Two doctors have introduced a brand new technology in surgery to eastern Idaho.
Dr. Nathan Richardson and Dr. Ben Allen, both orthopedic surgeons at Bingham Healthcare, have started using the Blueprint Mixed Reality (MR) Guidance System by Stryker in their practices. These doctors are two out of only eight in the country that are using this technology, which allows them to see a holographic three dimensional image of their plan for their surgery.
“It’s not necessarily revolution,” Richardson explained. “It’s more of an evolution, bridging the gap from planning to performance.”
Richardson and Allen always prepare for surgery by first examining a CAT scan, which gives them a detailed image of the deformity they’ll operate on. Now, when the doctors send this scan to Stryker’s engineers, they send back a three dimensional planning program.
The doctors use this program to plan out the surgery, and can then see a visual of that plan while they’re performing the operation.
To demonstrate how Stryker’s system works, using the Microsoft HoloLens 2, Allen compared it to Tony Stark’s plans to build his inventions in the “Iron Man” films. The doctors have the ability to move the model and look at all sides of it, remove layers to isolate something they want to look at or make it transparent.
“If you’re watching me do it, you’re like, ‘What’s this guy’s problem? Like, what’s he doing?’ But it’s pretty cool how you can move all these things around and change the different parameters,” Allen said.
The way they see it, this technology is the next step forward in a history of advancing medical technology.
Before the CAT scan was invented in the 1970s, joint replacement surgeons would have to open up their patient and correct the deformity upon seeing it for the first time. With a CT image, surgeons could then make a plan of action for the surgery.
“But the translation of going from what you planned on the computer to what you wanted to accomplish, there wasn’t a very reliable system for that,” Richardson said.
With Stryker’s system, Richardson and Allen can get immediate feedback on their execution of the surgery.
The system tells the doctors if they “are one degree off or one millimeter different than what (our) plan is. You get that immediate feedback so it helps (us) to accomplish that,” Richardson explained.
Allen explained that each patient has individual needs, so using the Stryker system allows him to plan out exactly how he’ll meet those needs.
“Now that I’m looking at it, I can see it in real-time in the corner of my vision and say, ‘Yep, this looks exactly like how I want it to be’, so you can be more secure about your plan and how to carry that plan out,” Allen said.
Allen says Stryker’s system is merely an effective tool to assist the surgery, and not something that he wholly relies on.
“If the goggles were to crash or the battery died, I’m not gonna be stuck in a position where I can’t still perform the surgery safely and effectively,” Allen said.
Both doctors see this technology as something that makes a positive outcome from the surgery even more likely.
“The more accurate we can be, the more likely they’re gonna have a good outcome functionally as well,” Richardson said.