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<i>VolumetricOR:</i> A New Approach to Simulate Surgical Interventions in Virtual Reality for Training and Education.

Surgical innovation·2022

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Surgical planning in virtual reality: a systematic review.

Moritz Queisner^1,2, Karl Eisenträger¹

¹Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Surgery, Experimental Surgery, Berlin, Germany.

Journal of Medical Imaging (Bellingham, Wash.)

|April 29, 2024

Summary

Virtual reality (VR) enhances surgical planning by improving anatomy understanding and reducing planning time. While promising, VR for surgical planning remains experimental, requiring further research to refine study designs and usability for clinical integration.

Keywords:

planning surgery systematic review virtual reality

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Area of Science:

Medical Technology
Surgical Innovation
Medical Imaging Visualization

Background:

Virtual reality (VR) offers advanced 3D visuospatial interaction for anatomical data assessment.
Recent years show a significant rise in studies applying VR to patient-specific image data for surgical planning.

Purpose of the Study:

To systematically review and summarize the latest research on VR applications in surgical planning.
To provide an overview of current findings, technologies, and future research directions in VR surgical planning.

Main Methods:

Comprehensive literature search from April 2021 to May 2023 using PRISMA guidelines.
Included studies focused on preoperative surgical planning using patient-specific medical images in VR with head-mounted displays.

Main Results:

VR positively impacts surgical decision-making and anatomical understanding compared to other methods.
VR surgical planning led to more frequent plan modifications and improved spatial localization of pathologies.
Benefits include reduced planning time and enhanced understanding of complex anatomy.

Conclusions:

VR for surgical planning is advancing from experimental to clinical application.
Diverse study designs and reporting methods currently limit comprehensive analysis.
Future research needs to refine study designs, reporting, and VR software usability for clinical adoption.