Augmented Reality-Assisted Spine Surgery: An Early Experience Demonstrating Safety and Accuracy with 218 Screws

Minimally invasive spine surgery has many advantages, but screw placement can be complex, particularly when anatomy is distorted by spinal deformity or previous spine surgery. Screw guidance techniques such as navigation and robotics are tools to guide screw placement and optimize minimally invasive options to achieve fusion. NSHF is dedicated to supporting research on the latest surgical techniques, particularly those that expand minimally invasive options for patients. This study sought to determine the safety and accuracy of a novel technology, augmented reality navigation, for spinal fusion patients. The results of one spine center’s early experience with augmented reality-assisted spine surgery demonstrated it as an effective, safe, and accurate navigation tool for screw placement.

Source: Bhatt FR, Orosz LD, Tewari A, Boyd D, Roy R, Good CR, Schuler TC, Haines CM, Jazini E. Augmented Reality-Assisted Spine Surgery: An Early Experience Demonstrating Safety and Accuracy with 218 Screws. Global Spine Journal. January 2022. doi:10.1177/21925682211069321