Augmented reality-enhanced navigation in endoscopic sinus surgery: A prospective, randomized, controlled clinical...

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Surgical Navigation Technologies
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Endoscopic sinus surgery is the standard treatment for chronic sinus diseases.
• Navigation systems improve surgical precision and safety.
• Augmented reality (AR) integration in navigation offers potential for enhanced visualization and guidance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the KARL STORZ NAV1 SinusTracker, a new navigation software with AR elements.
• To compare the efficacy and surgeon/patient experience of AR-enhanced navigation versus conventional navigation in endoscopic sinus surgery.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study involving 100 patients with chronic sinus disease.
• Patients were randomized into two groups: conventional non-AR navigation (n=52) and AR-enhanced navigation (n=48).
• Outcomes assessed included postoperative complications, surgery duration, surgeon-reported benefits, and patient-reported rehabilitation.

Main Results:

• Surgeons reported greater benefit and utilized AR navigation in more surgical steps, with increased time spent on preoperative image analysis.
• No significant differences were observed in postoperative complications, target registration error, operation time, or patient rehabilitation between the groups.
• The AR system demonstrated high acceptance among surgeons across different training levels.

Conclusions:

• AR-enhanced navigation software is well-accepted by sinus surgeons.
• It provides potential intraoperative benefits without negatively impacting operation duration or complication rates.
• This technology shows promise for improving the endoscopic sinus surgery experience.