Telepresence for surgical assistance and training using eXtended reality during and after pandemic periods
Eric L. Wisotzky (Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, Berlin, Rostock University Medical Center, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin)
Jean Claude Rosenthal (Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, Berlin, Rostock University Medical Center)
Senna Meij (TU Delft - Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technology)
J.J. van den Dobbelsteen (TU Delft - Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technology)
Philipp Arens (Charité Universittsmedizin Berlin)
Anna Hilsmann (Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, Berlin)
Peter Eisert (Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, Berlin)
Florian Cornelius Uecker (Charité Universittsmedizin Berlin)
Armin Schneider (Munich Surgical Imaging, Munich, Jade Hochschule Wilhelmshaven)
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Abstract
Existing challenges in surgical education (See one, do one, teach one) as well as the COVID-19 pandemic make it necessary to develop new ways for surgical training. Therefore, this work describes the implementation of a scalable remote solution called “TeleSTAR” using immersive, interactive and augmented reality elements which enhances surgical training in the operating room. The system uses a full digital surgical microscope in the context of Ear–Nose–Throat surgery. The microscope is equipped with a modular software augmented reality interface consisting an interactive annotation mode to mark anatomical landmarks using a touch device, an experimental intraoperative image-based stereo-spectral algorithm unit to measure anatomical details and highlight tissue characteristics. The new educational tool was evaluated and tested during the broadcast of three live XR-based three-dimensional cochlear implant surgeries. The system was able to scale to five different remote locations in parallel with low latency and offering a separate two-dimensional YouTube stream with a higher latency. In total more than 150 persons were trained including healthcare professionals, biomedical engineers and medical students.
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