Russian scientists have created a mixed reality for surgeons

The new program allows you to see the internal organs with more contrast and perform operations more efficiently

Specialists of the clinic of St. Petersburg State University decided to introduce paints into the usual surgical operation. With the help of a specially designed program, they achieved the effect of mixed reality, which made the appearance of internal human organs contrast. This made it possible to perform operations more accurately.

As MK was told at St. Petersburg State University, this method is necessary for difficult cases, for example, when a kidney tumor does not protrude beyond its limits. Such tumors are difficult to find during surgery, for this it is necessary to use ultrasound right during the operation or inject indocyanine green into the patient’s body – a special substance that becomes visible when exposed to infrared light.

However, the doctors of the clinic decided to go the other way. Together with the specialists of MSTU im. Bauman, they developed a program that allows you to create individual “improved” models of the internal anatomy of a person, by supplementing it with elements of virtual reality (VR). You can see this mixed reality only through special glasses, pointing them at the operated organs.

At the first stage, the patient is given a computed tomography with contrast. Then the tomogram is loaded into the viewer program, where it is painted in different colors by segments: kidneys, tumor, vessels. Then this data is uploaded to the service, from where it is transferred to the application installed in the mixed reality glasses. Wearing VR glasses, the surgeon receives complete information about the location of the vessels, ureter, tumor, and renal artery of a particular patient. This allows you to remove a complex tumor without damaging the tissues of the organ and avoiding complications after surgery.