Need Surgery? Let Me Practice on Your Double

Sinus surgery technology has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last generation. What began with fully invasive surgery has given way to endoscopic sinus surgery, and from there into an ever-widening array of microscopic implantable devices, medications and treatments.

But it wasn’t until recently that digital technology offered sinus surgeons the chance to extend their knowledge and precision. Enter SensAble, a company that creates extraordinarily detailed medical avatars for clinical training. The latest announcement, through a collaborative effort with Stanford University, is the invention of something called a “virtual body double” designed specifically for sinus surgery.

Here’s BusinessWire:

As detailed in the new issue of the American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy, the Stanford Rhinological Virtual Surgical Environment (VSE) demonstration project compiles the patient’s own pre-operative CT scans into a computer-based, touch-enabled 3D “body double” of the patient’s unique sinus morphology. Using the system, experienced surgeons can work by feel to digitally plan specific surgical pathways based on the patient’s actual anatomy, reducing the element of surprise during actual surgery.

The really exciting part of this technology is its sensory accuracy: Using haptic feedback, surgeons can genuinely feel resistance as they rehearse the motions of sinus surgery to come. Done right, this affords ENT surgeons a unique chance to practice a given procedure indefinitely on the patient’s own anatomy.

There is nothing like experience to make a surgeon into a master at what he or she does. If these new systems perform as promised, they could represent a quantum leap in the amount of training doctors can accumulate throughout their years of practice. If you’d like to make an appointment with one of the most experienced sinus surgery experts in California, please contact my offices here today.

Tags: sensable, sinus surgery, stanford, technology