A new navigation system for radius osteotomy surgery based on holographic computing: An in vitro study.

Area of Science:

• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Medical Technology
• Computer Science

Background:

• Mixed reality (MR) surgical navigation systems are established in orthopaedics for shoulder and knee procedures.
• The application of MR navigation for radius osteotomies remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and assess an MR-based navigation system for derotational radius osteotomies.
• To evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of this novel holographic navigation system.

Main Methods:

• A holographic computing software (C++ integrable in MRTK 2) was developed for Microsoft Hololens 2.
• Custom positioners and trackers were designed for MR recognition and spatial relationship tracking.
• Forty-one radius biomodels underwent rotational osteotomies using both freehand and navigated techniques by a consultant and a resident, followed by CT analysis.

Main Results:

• The navigated system achieved a median error of 1º, significantly outperforming the freehand technique's median error of 11º (p<0.05).
• Osteotomy accuracy was not compromised by increased surgical magnitudes with the navigated system.
• The MR navigation system demonstrated superior accuracy and reproducibility, with no significant inter-surgeon variability.

Conclusions:

• Holographic computerization-based surgical navigation enhances the accuracy of radius rotational osteotomies.
• The system's reproducibility and simplicity position it as a promising technique for future surgical navigation applications.