Justin Bundy, MD, performed the first augmented reality-assisted pediatric spine surgery in the country using Augmedics' Xvision spine system, according to The Augusta Chronicle.
The surgeon removed magnetized rods adjacent to the spine of a 16-year-old patient with scoliosis and performed a spinal fusion at Doctors Hospital of Augusta (Ga.).
The rods had been implanted in the patient four years previously to gradually straighten the curvature in her spine and allowed her to grow about 4.5 inches, according to the report.
The augmented reality system allowed Dr. Bundy to navigate the patient's "difficult anatomy" and led to "much easier placement of the hardware," he told the Chronicle.
Xvision has a headset designed to function as if the surgeon has X-ray vision into the patient's anatomy to accurately navigate instruments and implants while looking at the patient instead of a screen.
The device determines the position of surgical tools and superimposes them on the patient's CT data, which is projected onto the surgeon's retina using the headset, allowing the surgeon to simultaneously look at the patient and the navigation data.
"Because you are using essentially augmented reality, you know the anatomy perfectly," Dr. Bundy said. "It's safer and quicker. I would say it probably saved us an hour."