Augmented reality in pediatric craniofacial surgery: clinical experience

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Medical Technology
• Pediatric Surgery

Background:

• Augmented reality (AR) integrates virtual data into a surgeon's view.
• AR is increasingly used in surgical applications.
• Head-mounted displays (HMDs) like Microsoft HoloLens 2 offer new possibilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate clinical experience with AR (HoloLens 2) in pediatric craniofacial surgery.
• To assess AR's accuracy in correcting single-suture craniosynostosis.
• To compare AR-guided osteotomies with traditional navigation.

Main Methods:

• 10 pediatric patients with single-suture craniosynostosis underwent AR-guided and traditional navigation-guided osteotomies.
• Osteotomy accuracy was measured using CAD/CAM templates.
• Accuracy was assessed at ±1.5 mm and ±1.0 mm thresholds.

Main Results:

• AR guidance demonstrated statistically significant superior accuracy at the ±1.0 mm threshold (34% vs. 16%, p=0.044).
• The study compared AR-guided osteotomies with standard neurosurgical navigation.
• Accuracy was evaluated using specific measurement thresholds.

Conclusions:

• AR navigation shows comparable accuracy to traditional methods.
• AR-based HMDs show potential as reliable intraoperative navigation tools.
• Further research is needed to explore AR applications and long-term outcomes.