Virtual reality and artificial intelligence for 3-dimensional planning of lung segmentectomies

Area of Science:

• Thoracic Surgery
• Medical Imaging
• Virtual Reality

Background:

• Increasing trend towards pulmonary segmentectomies for early-stage lung cancer and other pathologies.
• Preoperative anatomical understanding is crucial but challenging with traditional CT scans.
• Virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) offer 3D visualization of complex pulmonary anatomy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the technical feasibility and clinical applicability of PulmoVR, an AI-based 3D-VR platform.
• To evaluate PulmoVR for preoperative planning of video-assisted thoracoscopic segmentectomies.
• To demonstrate the potential of immersive VR for surgical planning.

Main Methods:

• Prospective observational pilot study involving 10 patients undergoing segmentectomy.
• Utilized the dedicated AI-based and immersive 3D-VR platform, PulmoVR.
• PulmoVR was used as a supplementary imaging tool for preoperative planning.

Main Results:

• PulmoVR was successfully applied in all 10 patients for segmentectomy planning.
• Surgical strategy was adjusted in 40% of cases based on 3D-VR anatomical evaluation.
• Demonstrated the potential benefit of VR-guided planning for surgeons and patients.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully developed and clinically applied the first dedicated AI and VR platform for pulmonary segmentectomy planning.
• This represents the first known immersive VR application for preoperative segmentectomy planning.
• Highlights the value of advanced visualization technologies in thoracic surgery.