WARSAW: A report published in the European Heart Journal revealed that for the first time, heart surgeons in Poland used 3D goggles to see inside a patient’s chest as they opened up a narrowed heart valve.

The imaging techniques used by surgeons collect data in three dimensions, but the images are projected onto two dimensional screens. Surgeons performing minimally invasive procedures thus have no depth perception and need to tap internal surfaces to get oriented.

The authors noted that with the ability to see in three dimensions, the surgeon using the new technique was able to orient himself without the need to tap instruments against the heart.

The research team, led by Jaroslaw Kasprzak, a Cardiologist at Bieganski Hospital and Chair in the Department of Cardiology at the Medical University of Lodz, wrote that they developed the method of real-time streaming of data into headmounted mixed-reality holographic display thus enabling touchless control and data sharing within the cath lab. The method was tested for the first time in a human during a procedure to widen the mitral valve.

Omar Ali, Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab at Detroit Medical Center’s Heart Hospital, Michigan, stated that during the procedure, a deflated balloon is placed inside the narrowed valve and then inflated to widen the opening to allow the blood to flow more freely.

Ali said that he does minimally invasive structural heart procedures, such as fixing the valves in the heart and usually relies on 3D ultrasound images of the heart that are projected onto a flat screen.

The new technology takes the 3D image and sends it to the 3D goggles. As a result, the surgeon is able to see in 3D rather than looking at a 2D image projected on a flat screen.

The technique described in the new report helps the surgeon to navigate and will help to provide better treatment. While the new report seems encouraging, the technique needs to be studied in randomized trials.

Raveen Bazaz, a Cardiac Electrophysiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, feels that the new technology might improve patient care. Bazaz stated that 3D holographic displays can allow operators to use this information and modify techniques in real time, thus allowing dynamic guidance during an ongoing procedure.