Augmented Reality in Spine Surgery: Current State of the Art

Augmented reality (AR) is the superimposition of a virtual environment on the real world. The use of AR in spine surgery continues to grow, with multiple companies and products becoming available. The proposed benefits of AR include decreased attention shift, decreased line-of-site interruption, opportunity for more minimally invasive approaches, decreased radiation exposure to the operative team, and improved pedicle screw accuracy. In this review, we examine our institutional experiences with utilization and implementation of some of the current AR products.