First experience of using augmented reality technology in liver and pancreas laparoscopy

Abstract

Aim. To describe the experience of using augmented reality system in abdominal surgery at one clinical center.Materials and methods. In 2021–2022, five patients underwent laparoscopy with augmented reality technology. The interventions included echinococcectomy with resection of IV, V, VI liver segments, pancreaticoduodenal resection for pancreatic head cancer, excision of mesostenium cyst, resection of pancreas body and tail for neuroendocrine tumor.Results. Application of 3D models requires putting on glasses, scaling and setting a model on the screen image, which sometimes prolonged surgery time to 25 minutes. In a number of operations the use of augmented reality navigated the surgeon when working near vascular structures. After looking through the AR model, a surgeon felt more confident in terms of individual anatomy.Conclusion. Augmented reality can become a reliable and promising tool in abdominal surgery. However, further technological development in augmented reality systems is needed to increase their performance.