Smartphone-assisted Augmented Reality in Craniofacial Surgery

Augmented reality (AR), a blending of both the physical and digital worlds, can be a valid tool for surgeons wishing to plan interventions and attain symmetry. The use of technology has enabled physicians to achieve desirable results. In this article, we describe a method that uses smartphone's simple AR utilities for convenient, cost effective, and time saving perioperative planning.

Images of preoperative computed tomography, along with 3D reconstructed scans were uploaded to a smartphone and used in an affordable application (Camera Lucida) to superimpose the loaded pictures over the smartphone camera. In one case, a 3D computed tomography scan of the skull was mirrored to help guide fronto-orbital advancement, and in another case the loaded 3D reconstructed computed tomography scan was used to prioritize areas of scalp coverage in a complicated case of craniosynostosis with major scalp wound dehiscence.

Adaptation of AR to assist in the field of craniofacial surgery has been introduced before in several studies that reported the use of computer-based guidance for cranial reshaping. The majority of these reports used sophisticated modalities, combining advanced image registration and tracking with specialized equipment. The utility of smartphone AR for cranial vault reconstruction provided good accuracy when visualizing fronto-orbital advancement and remodeling, together with in depth prioritization of areas in need of soft tissue reconstruction.

Smartphone AR adaptation proved to be a very convenient tool assisting in the planning of different craniofacial conditions that are time saving and do not incur any additional fees beyond those of the surgery.