Elevating Surgery with XR Streaming

Augmented Reality (AR) is rapidly gaining popularity across the medical field. With immersive streaming technology, surgeons now have the power and speed they need to visualize complex surgical 3D data on mobile AR devices – so they can view critical information while keeping the patient in focus. 

Surgeons face unsustainably high pressure – caseloads are rising daily and procedures are growing in complexity. They need solutions that help them improve the quality of care they provide patients, and at the same time help them perform more procedures in less time.  

AR headsets give surgeons sterile access to critical information within the operative field. Surgeons can keep their focus on patients while interacting with unintrusive UI elements to view patient data, scans, 3D models, or other preoperative notes. It’s a massive leap forward that creates an enriched and seamless surgical experience.

AR’s applications for surgery are ever-evolving. Many surgeons already use AR as a training tool, but intra-operative AR is now gaining significant traction within the medical community. It puts very complex data at the user’s fingertips – so surgeries are more personalized and precise – yet reduces the cognitive load on surgeons.

The partnership between Enhatch and Holo-Light is one example of how an ecosystem can connect companies, technologies and surgeons to provide more intelligent and seamless surgical procedures. The Holo-Light integration allows surgical teams to train virtually – both independently and in a collaborative environment – using AR and VR through XR streaming technology. The result is a much faster and safer way of developing, experiencing, and interacting with 3D content.

The Power of Remote Rendering

Surgeons often operate with limited incision in a very constricted field of view. Interactive 3D models open up that view, providing invaluable perspective. Enhatch’s software platform gives surgeons access to accurate 3D models, which are converted from preoperative images such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs.

But even for a single surgery, this can mean processing several gigabytes of data, which would overstrain the performance capacity of Microsoft HoloLens 2 and other mobile AR devices. Streaming makes it possible to maintain the accuracy and visual quality of models. Enhatch has integrated the XR streaming component ISAR SDK from Holo-Light into the Intelligent Surgery Ecosystem to make it easy for surgeons to access valuable data during surgeries. 

The Future of Healthcare

The use of AR within the operating room is the future of healthcare, and Holo-Light’s ISAR technology is just one example of how technology can improve and speed up processes while saving money. ISAR eliminates the need to convert volumes of data from one syntax to another, which is time consuming and expensive. High-resolution data is streamed directly from iPad or computer to the AR headset over a stable Wi-Fi connection between server and client application.

There will be many integrations and technological advances that uplevel what is possible for clinical outcomes and improve the surgical experience for both patient and surgeon. A next step may be the integration of Holo-Light’s XR streaming platform XRnow. This would facilitate distribution and provide customers global availability and easy access on all XR devices. 

AR has the capacity to blend the virtual world and the real world for more successful clinical outcomes that benefit both patient and surgeon. XR streaming technology will eventually let surgeons access the live stream of the AR headset to engage remote support during surgery.

This partnership marks an important step in the integration and cooperation of technologies toward improving the speed, efficiency, and precision of surgeries everywhere in the world.

Want to learn more about becoming an ecosystem partner or how the Intelligent Surgery Ecosystem can help you deliver more personalized surgeries? 

Click here to get in touch.