Augmented Reality X-ray Insights
Inside Dental Technology delivers updates on digital workflows, materials, lab techniques, and innovation in dental technology through expert articles and videos.
February 1, 2020
Volume 11, Issue 2, February 2020
Page(s): p. 56
Daniel Alter, MSc, MDT, CDT
A recent noteworthy FDA clearance was granted to a Chicago-based startup company called Augmedics Inc. for its Xvision Spine system. The company received the FDA 510(k) clearance for its device and software, which provides surgeons with x-ray-quality insights into a patient's anatomy and real-time surgical navigation and guidance. While the FDA has cleared other AR products before, Xvision Spine (XVS) is the first to be indicated for guided surgery. "There is no other device…that is using both the technology of augmented reality on a headset and has the full capabilities of surgical navigation, of tracking the surgical instrument very precisely to locate and guide the surgeon throughout the surgery," says Nissan Elimelech, Augmedics' founder and CEO.1
The FDA cleared the system and its corresponding software "as an aid for precisely locating anatomical structures in either open or percutaneous spinal procedures. Their use is indicated for any medical condition in which the use of stereotactic surgery may be appropriate, and where reference to a rigid anatomical structure, such as the spine, can be identified relative to CT imagery of the anatomy."1 With its intended use, this or a similar device could be of tremendous benefit to dental practitioners while placing dental implants and using cone-beam technology and guided surgery software.
What makes this system really exciting is that it is comprised of a transparent near-eye-display headset, as well as the capabilities found in traditional surgical navigation and guidance systems. It plots the real-time positioning of surgical tools and superimposes a virtual trajectory over the patient's CT imaging data. While the surgeon uses the headset, the navigation data are then projected in 3D onto their retina, enabling him or her to see both the patient's anatomy and navigation guidance without looking away to a remote screen.2 Theoretically, the device can be used while scanning and performing invasive dental procedures, allowing the practitioner to see every anatomical structure clearly in real time.
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