(UroToday.com) At the American Urological Association Annual Meeting on April 28th, Dr. Atsushi Okada presented on his and his team’s development of a virtual reality (VR) simulation as a preparatory measure for partial robotic nephrectomies. Dr. Okada explains that this idea to create an immersive virtual reality experience for better anatomical understanding was originally sparked by the idea to 3D print each patients’ anatomy. Admittedly, he said that this would be outstandingly costly and would not be time efficient.
As a result, Okada et al. utilized Ziostation®2 and preoperative CT scans to create stereolithography files for VR use, where the model is created in only ~2 hours. In addition to the patient’s renal anatomy, each VR model incorporated 4 visual trocars and a 7 cm virtual sphere for port-to-port measurements. While looking at the models, three to four surgeons would be the avatar in the simulation. In doing so, they would not only be able to see an immersive 3D representation of the kidney (and surrounding relevant anatomy), but during observation would also be instructed on approach methods. Finally, the model also allowed for determination of optimal port position for the surgery (see mapping sheet below).
Dr. Okada shares that this newly developed piece of technology has shown to be beneficial in not only providing the surgeon with a better anatomical model for a safer procedure but also making the decision of port position location easier (and more collaborative) prior to incision. He further states the potential of this model, especially in Japan where the radiological training is quite rigorous, shows immense educational value for those pursuing a career in urological surgery.
Moreover, the team hopes to take this concept even further where the ultimate goal would be to develop these models so that they may be useful for diagnosis, informed consent, training, and intraoperative navigation.
Presented by: Atsushi Okada, MD, PhD, Department of Nephro-urology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical SciencesWritten by: Amanda McCormac, Junior Research Specialist at Department of Urology, University of California Irvine, @Mccormacamanda on Twitter during the 2023 American Urological Association (AUA) Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 27 – May 1, 2023
References:
- Okada, A., Ohashi, K., Ota, Y., Sugino, T., Iwatsuki, S., Etani, T., Taguchi, K., Naiki, T., Hamamoto, S., Ando, R., Kawai, N., Tozawa, K., & Yasui, T. (2023). MP26-04 DEVELOPMENT OF VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) SIMULATION OF ROBOT-ASSISTED PARTIAL NEPHRECTOMY USING METAVERSE. In Journal of Urology (Vol. 209, Issue Supplement 4). Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). https://doi.org/10.1097/ju.0000000000003254.04