Surgeons at UCSD Find Apple Vision Pro Promising for Minimally Invasive Surgery

[MacRumors]

Surgeons at the University of California, San Diego have been testing the Apple Vision Pro for surgeries, and have performed more than 20 minimally invasive operations while wearing the headsets. Surgeon and director of the Center for Future Surgery at UCSD, Santiago Horgan, recently spoke with Time to provide some commentary on the Vision Pro's performance.

According to Horgan, the Vision Pro could be "more transformative" than robotic devices that are used to assist in surgeries. While the Vision Pro is expensive for consumers, it is affordable for hospitals compared to most medical equipment, and it is widely available technology that many hospitals around the country will be able to take advantage of.

During laparoscopic surgeries, doctors send a camera through a small incision, and the camera's view is shown on a nearby screen. Doctors have to watch the screen while also operating on the patient, a process that the Vision Pro streamlines. Horgan says that surgeons need to look over at CT scans, monitor vitals, and more while doing these surgeries, and all of that information can be viewed through the Vision Pro instead.

This prevents surgeons from having to contort their bodies in odd positions, cutting down on discomfort while performing surgeries.

While Horgan has tried other headsets like Google Glass and Microsoft's HoloLens, the displays were not good enough. But the Vision Pro has high-resolution OLED displays, and the result has turned out to be "better than [UCSD surgeons] even expected."

In surgeries that involve the Vision Pro, doctors, assistants, and nurses all wear the headsets instead of looking at screens, and no patients have opted out of the Vision Pro surgeries.

UCSD is also testing the Vision Pro's ability to create 3D radiology imaging, and the team may also test it in other medical applications. More on how the Vision Pro and other similar devices are being tested for medical use is outlined in the full Time article.

Article Link: Surgeons at UCSD Find Apple Vision Pro Promising for Minimally Invasive Surgery

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Meanwhile, the hospital I work for has decided it can't be used in surgery because it doesn't have a visual pass-through during failure mode, including power failure.

Well, they decided several months ago, but it's still in effect.

 

[WilliApple]

Ummm... I don't trust this...
If I sense that my surgeon is going to use Vision Pro for my surgeries, I will wake up and run away.

 

[No5tromo]

Reason of death: mid-surgery visionOS update

 

[StoneJack]

Finally some real use for vision pro

 

[mattopotamus]

This thing is no where near clear enough that I would want a surgeon wearing it while operating on me.

 

[carswell]

Excellent use case. And with tweaks, it might be a way for, say, Montreal- or Toronto-based surgeons to perform certain surgeries on patients in, say, remote arctic communities who'd otherwise be forced to make the long and expensive trip down south. Or, say, for a Berlin-based surgeon to do life-saving surgeries on the Ukrainian front lines.

 

[BelgianChoklit]

I can't wait to have surgery and having it taking 2 hours longer because the binoculars need a recharge.

 

[AAPLGeek]

What happens when the battery runs out mid surgery?

 

[carswell]

What happens when the battery runs out mid surgery?

The surgeon switches to a backup headset. Hospitals that do this won't have just one VP, precisely with this eventuality in mind.

 

[jicon]

If it works, it works... but I've read so many comments from those using the devices who have trouble reading on real world labels/books/screens which has me somewhat skeptical. Truth surely is somewhere in the middle.

 

[dominiongamma]

Finally some real use for vision pro

This is not real world use. That be consumers using it

 

[lilkwarrior]

The surgeon switches to a backup headset. Hospitals that do this won't have just one VP, precisely with this eventuality in mind.

I’m also very sure they will get additional battery packs as spares in addition to continuous power options via the USB-C port on the charger

 

[lilkwarrior]

This is not real world use. That be consumers using it

That doesn’t make sense being a prosumer devices

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Wow that surgeon was just gushing with praise for AVP and how inexpensive it is in the healthcare arena. Go Apple!

 

[citysnaps]

Finally some real use for vision pro

Some, including myself, predicted this (among many other uses/applications) years ago here on MR.

 

[lilkwarrior]

What happens when the battery runs out mid surgery?

The Vision Pro has plenty of timely indicators about its battery life as well as having the ability to continuously power it while in use.

The Vision Pro enables you to swap out one battery pack for another (it’s not permanently attached to the Vision Pro by design).

 

[citysnaps]

This is not real world use. That be consumers using it

It absolutely is "real world use."

 

[I7guy]

What happens when the battery runs out mid surgery?

Probably the same as if the surgeon has a heart attack.

 

[darkphoenix24]

It’s honestly much more cheaper than even CT software. I’m a researcher and I study vertebrate skulls and their evolution for a living using biomechanics. You wouldn’t believe how much some of the softwares we use cost ($4000-8000 per software per year, more depending on the number of machines). Hospitals also use the same CT software but can afford it compared to universities who are generally more stingy.

The resolution is currently much higher than the competition and I’ve tried one on several times.

As someone who exclusively works on 3D datasets, using an AVP makes so much more sense to me than a Wacom tablet and a workstation or a Mac and an iPad connected to SideCar. It’s much more cumbersome to pan, rotate and manipulate the CT images into a 3D volume rendering, only to realize that it’s not what you thought you segmented. i also find it hard to conceptualize certain muscle attachments and tendons using 2D images from publications or on a computer screen.

Currently trying to write this into a grant. It’s a lot cheaper than the 16K we paid for a Mac Pro 2019.

Doctors have used scopes, VR/AR and 3D printing for ages. 3D printing is expensive too depending on the scale and materials. And you’d have to go back and print every change you make. Instead, having a 3D model floating in front of your eyes in an Apple Vision Pro is way easier and game changing. You can speed up so much of the workflow.

Also check: https://www.medivis.com/

 

[gatorvet96]

Ummm... I don't trust this...
If I sense that my surgeon is going to use Vision Pro for my surgeries, I will wake up and run away.

Laparoscopic procedures are done with video cameras inside on screens and not looking at patient anyway. Having a clearer view in 4K and possibly 3D is likely vastly superior for these surgeries.

 

[farmboy]

Probably the same as if the surgeon has a heart attack.

Swap battery or swap headset. It's not terminal.

 

[TigerNike23]

Ok, so it’s basically like other VR headsets?

Didn’t the US military use the HoloLens headset?

 

[MacMan988]

Reason of death: mid-surgery visionOS update

Updates aren't that frequent and you don't have to install them right away.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

This is not real world use. That be consumers using it

Tell that to the millions of iPads in use in hospitals.