Surgery with 'Star Track' like holographic imagining
A team led by Jerzy Sacha, MD, PhD, performed an innovative cardiac procedure at the University Hospital (UH) in Opole with the use of "augmented reality", to be precise, with the help of holographic images, just like as in the the famous Star Trek series. The second such procedure in the world!
- With the use of unique CarnaLife Holo technology, created by the Polish company MedApp, we obtained holographic images of the inside of the heart, which were used during the valve repair procedure without opening the chest, using the MitraClip system - explains a cardiologist, Jerzy Sacha, MD, Head of the Laboratory of Haemodynamic Studies at the USK in Opole, Professor at the Opole University of Technology.
- The uniqueness of this operation consists in the fact that a three-dimensional holographic image of the heart was used in real time, i.e. during the valve repair," emphasises Prof. Sacha and explains that previously holography was used mainly during preparations for the operation.
The hologram was visible in the operating theatre thanks to the use of MedApp software and special eyeglasses from Microsoft (HoloLens2). “The operating surgeon was able to "immerse" himself in the patient's heart structures and rotate the virtual heart using his own hands. This creates great prospects for performing procedures in the new reality, which provides images so far unavailable with standard methods,” comments Prof. Jerzy Sacha.
“CarnaLife Holo is a breakthrough technology for three-dimensional visualisation of medical imaging data, providing access to examination in the form of a hologram throughout the entire surgery, which significantly reduces the surgery time and thus means measurable benefits for the patient, medical staff and hospital,” adds Krzysztof Mędrala, President of MedApp S.A.
As a result of the described procedure, the mitral valve was repaired and the patient reported improved functional capacity the very next day.
The UH in Opole is the second centre in the world, after Vienna, where the MitraClip procedure was performed using holographic imaging.
The following took part in the procedure in Opole: Jerzy Sacha, MD, Krzysztof Krawczyk and Jarosław Bugajski (cardiologists); Mateusz Stanisz (anaesthesiologist); Monika Świderska and Małgorzata Werner (scrub nurses); Danuta Radiszewska ( nurse anaesthetist); Filip Żuczek (X-ray technician). Technological assistance was provided by Jakub Kasprzak and Kacper Pabianek from MedApp, Tomasz Ogonowski from GE and Szymon Dziedzic (Abbott company).
“We are proud that a pioneer procedure using the latest medical and medical support technologies has been carried out in our hospital,” says Dariusz Madera, UH Managing Director. “Congratulations to the whole team led by Professor Saka.”
t is worth noting that this was another innovative procedure carried out in the UH in Opole, performed using minimally invasive interventional procedures. Recently, at conferences in Orlando, USA, and London, Prof. Sacha presented the results of implantation of a heart pump (Impella) and implantation of an aortic valve using the TAVI method with access through the subclavian artery.
Material: UH
