Augmented reality technology has taken off in spine and orthopedic surgery in 2021. From debut cases and new product launches, here are 13 key developments to know:
1. Royal Philips introduced its ClarifEye augmented reality system for minimally invasive spine surgery in February. In December, ClarifyEye expanded in Spain and Oman.
2. Neurosurgeon Brent Kimball, MD, used augmented reality to perform two spine surgeries in February at Sky Ridge Medical Center in Lone Tree, Colo. The hospital is the first in Denver to implement Augmedics' Xvision system.
3. Surgical Planning Associates received FDA 510(k) clearance for its HipInsight augmented reality intraoperative guidance system for joint replacements, and the technology debuted in February.
4. Kankakee, Ill.-based Riverside Healthcare in March became the first hospital in the state to offer augmented reality-assisted spine surgery. Riverside Healthcare partnered with Brainlab to add its Zeiss Kinevo Microscope to its spine program.
5. Harvinder Sandhu, MD, co-chief of New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery Spine, was selected to direct the augmented reality spine surgery program at Stamford (Conn.) Health's Bennett Medical Center in April.
6. The first spine case combining augmented reality and a surgical robot was recently performed by Kornelis Poelstra, MD, PhD, director of The Robotic Spine Institute of Silicon Valley in Los Gatos, Calif., in May. The posterior lumbar fusion was performed using Medtronic's Mazor X robot and Augmedics' Xvision augmented reality system.
7. Medacta's NextAR augmented reality surgical system in May received CE marking for spine surgery, as well as for shoulder and knee applications.
8. Justin Bundy, MD, performed the first augmented reality-assisted pediatric spine surgery in the country using Augmedics' Xvision spine system in June.
9. Augmedics, the company behind the Xvision augmented reality spine surgery system, named two leaders to its board of directors in July.
10. Ehsan Jazini, MD, and Christopher Good, MD, used patient-specific spinal rods and an artificial intelligence-derived preoperative surgical plan and an augmented reality system to operate on a 17-year-old scoliosis patient in August in Virginia.
11. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus performed the state's first augmented reality-assisted spine surgery in September.
12. Bedford, Mass.-based OnPoint Surgical received an award in November for an augmented reality spine surgery patent that was granted in June.
13. Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston in November implemented augmented reality technology in its operating rooms to assist surgeons performing spine procedures.