Head-Mount-Display
Taking endoscopic and laparoscopic surgeries into the third dimension
Since September 2015, Greifswald University Hospital in Germany has been using the HMS-3000MT 3D head mount display from Sony Professional — currently up to eight times a week for laparoscopic procedures with varying levels of difficulty. The team, led by Consultant Doctor Maciej Patrzyk, is convinced by the advantages of the new system—in terms of both ergonomics and imaging technology—in comparison to traditional 2D and 3D monitors.
Background
Greifswald University Hospital is a public service hospital in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, and serves as the medical faculty of the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald. With more than 900 beds and 4400 employees it treats around 146,000 patients each year, and the surgical department alone performs around 2700 operations. As a maximum-care hospital, Greifswald offers significantly more than a tertiary-care facility and currently has more than 1000 medical students in training. In the department for general surgery, visceral surgery, thoracic surgery and vascular surgery, minimally invasive operations are a daily focus. For patients with malignant tumours, the University Hospital also takes an interdisciplinary approach and agrees treatment concepts via a tumour panel with doctors representing different departments.
Challenge
When an innovative solution like 3D systems are newly introduced to operating theatres, an initial familiarisation phase is always required for the medical staff. Operating headwear must therefore be designed to be as intuitive and ergonomic as possible to increase acceptance, especially among older generations of doctors. Dr.Maciej Patrzyk, Consultant at the Surgical Clinic and Outpatient's Department at Greifswald University Hospital, sees a further challenge in the basic image quality of 3D viewing, which often does not quite reach the standard of 2D monitors with HD resolution. According to Patrzyk, because the HD quality of modern 2D screens compensates for—and goes some way to mitigating—the loss of the third dimension, surgeons seek the exact same quality in three-dimensional systems as they can find in 2D solutions with HD resolution.
Solution
Since September 2015, the surgical department at Greifswald University Hospital has used an Olympus 3D camera system in combination with the HMS-3000MT Head Mount Display system from Sony Professional, which reproduces endoscopic and laparoscopic images in stereoscopic 3D. Three-dimensional systems are currently used in Greifswald primarily for procedures with a high degree of difficulty, as well as for standard operations such as those performed on hernias within the framework of a clinical study. The medical teams use the new technology around six to eight times per week for gynaecology and urology as well as for general and paediatric surgery.
The results
From Dr.Patrzyk’s point of view, although younger generations of doctors have grown up with 3D technology, the older generation of practitioners are sometimes sceptical towards operating using stereoscopic systems. However, he believes that the constant experience sharing within surgical community confirms that suturing is significantly easier when viewing in 3D — and that stereoscopic visualisation using the Sony Medical Head Mount Display makes more focused work possible. According to the surgeon, one of the primary advantages of Sony´s Head Mount Display system is that you don´t need to monitor several surgical displays simultaneously while performing the operation. Using the high quality optics of the HMS-3000MT, surgeons benefit from a large horizontal viewing angle of 45 degrees, enabling them to have a more natural visual experience, without constantly having to look up. An individually adjustable headband strap also helps to ensure that the system fits and can be worn comfortably even for long periods.
Why choose Sony´s HMS-3000MT?
According to Patrzyk, the unique HMS-3000MT 3D Head Mount Display system impresses thanks to its outstanding 3D image quality in daily use. "Subjectively, I would rank the image quality between a 3D monitor and the 3D robotic surgical system, although the Sony Head Mount Display really does get close to the da Vinci system.", says the consultant. “The separate OLED display panels for the left and right eyes allow the HMS-3000MT to supply a fluid and natural 3D experience with high-contrast HD images and a wide colour gamut. In principle, 3D systems are clearly superior to 2D systems", summarises Doctor Maciej Patrzyk, following the comprehensive tests using the Sony solution.
Sony Healthcare has already enhanced the comfort of the Head Mount Display and reduced the weight in direct response to clinician’s feedback. Ideas to increase efficiency from Patrzyk such as image source selection by footswitch or voice control and even a wireless solution are very welcome for Sony to constantly review and improve all our medical products for optimised use.
Source: Sony
14.01.2016
