By literally providing a floating map of the targeted area, surgeons can be quicker and more precise.
Key Takeaways:
- Holographic 3D models provide a way for healthcare providers to obtain a complete and accurate view of anatomical features
- These 3D models help surgeons plan surgery with pin-point accuracy and allow them free use of their hands as the image floats above the patient on the table
- Patient care improves with shorter surgeries, fewer complications, and shorter hospital stays
- Digital 3D modeling is quite cost-effective and has cost-benefit advantages over 3D printing
- When compared with 3D printing, holograms are much more accurate, providing better depth perception and representation
- 3D holograms also takes far less time to produce than printed models: 2 to 16 minutes
One treatment or surgical option does not fit all patients, and to provide not only the best in personalized care but also lower the cost of treatment, healthcare providers are turning to digital 3D models. These models reproduce a patient’s anatomy in minute detail, allowing for more surgical precision and targeted treatments.
Patient-specific, holographic anatomical models can reduce surgery and treatment costs by aiding pre-op planning, reducing intra-operative time, and improving patient outcomes by allowing greater surgical precision.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways holographic 3D models are being used in healthcare, how these models are visualized, and how they offer a cost-effective way for hospitals and other surgical facilities to provide doctors with a deep look inside the human body.
Why use holographic 3D surgical models?
A 3D holographic model provides a way for surgeons and other healthcare providers to interact with the digital world to give them better information about the human body internally and externally that can be used to simplify complex treatment plans. Holographic models are being used for orthopedics, brain surgery, cardiac surgery, and even face transplants. They also are being used in drug discovery, because holographic 3D models allow researchers to view cells in their actual environment, instead of the false one provided by 2D cell cultures.
These 3D models, visualized from 2D CT and MRI scans, bring the following benefits:
- Greater visibility: 3D visibility improves procedures and treatment with full anatomic visualization of internal organ structures from any angle and magnification. These models can be scaled and rotated on any device.
- Surgery can be planned in greater detail: Using 3D holograms in surgical planning saves on operating room costs and helps surgeons to avoid unnecessary tissue damage.
- Improved patient care: Holograms can improve patient care by shortening operating times, reducing blood loss, and shortening hospital stays. They can also be used to spot problems sooner and devise preemptive solutions. And holograms can be shared electronically with other providers.
- Surgeons can perform procedures effectively and precisely: They can see every detail of every organ for better accuracy, and they can keep their hands free because 3D models mean they don’t have to check tablets or phones for specific instructions.
3D models also provide better guidance in an emergency using previously obtained holographic images, and even remote patients can be treated with greater accuracy and outcomes. They also improve communication between providers by enabling them to share precise details on problem locations instead of trying to describe the needed action via a 2D image.
These benefits go hand-in-hand with cost savings for the facility.
3D models reduce treatment costs
There are a number of ways that 3D models can reduce treatment costs in healthcare settings. First, Pre-planning and organization lead to efficiencies and improved outcomes no matter what the task, and that particularly applies to the operating room. With a 3D hologram, pre-operative planning can be more precise. This means the surgeon can quickly and precisely find a way to achieve the optimal outcome, which leads to less time spent in the operating room, not just for the actual procedure, but set-up as well.
Post-operative outcomes are also improved by a shorter surgical procedure, which reduces the risk of both complications and hospital-acquired infections. This means shorter hospital stays, which results in cost savings.
Holographic models are superior to 3D printed images and much less costly
One might be tempted by a 3D printed organ, but when compared with a 3D floating hologram, the hologram is superior in every way according to a recent study.
Holograms improved both depth perception and representation, and they shortened the time for intraoperative preparation over a printed image. In the study, 3D models only took around nine minutes to generate, while 3D print models took about 141 minutes for pre-processing, 4 to nearly 20 hours to print, and about 38 minutes for post-processing. Even after this lengthy process, 21.5% of studies into printed models in medicine found that the accuracy was unsatisfactory.
The lack of accuracy was especially apparent in representations of cardiovascular disease, where holograms show clear superiority. A 3D printed heart doesn’t represent the proper surface characteristics such as color, texture, and lighting, which requires providers to use their imagination.
A holographic model visualizes a 3D image that corresponds to tissue texture, etc., even when viewed on a 2D screen such as a computer monitor, phone, or tablet. A printed model cannot be shared except through physical means or with the necessity to print it again in a different location, but a digital model can be shared to almost any digital device.
There’s also the cost of 3D printing. The printer itself can cost between $5,000 for a very basic unit to $50,000. Then there are materials, hiring a specialist to operate the printer ($120,000), segmentation software ($20,000 per year), and of course, increased energy costs. In a cost/benefit analysis, 3D holograms were superior to 3D printing.
Holographic images provide full anatomic visualization, can be produced in 2 to 15 minutes, require no post-processing, and can be viewed from any device, no matter where the provider is. This all comes at a reasonable cost that can more than pay for itself.
Intravision XR gives you superior visual detail at a low cost
For intraoperative surgical guidance, pre-surgery planning, and post-surgical analysis, you need fully-formed 3D models. Intravision XR, a cloud-based 3D modeling tool, visualizes these models from any DICOM dataset, such as CT and MRI scans.
These 3D holograms contain complete anatomical detail and can be viewed using AR, VR, or the standard screen on a phone, tablet, or computer. Users have the ability to move, scale, and rotate the images for unparalleled visibility.
For more information about how we can equip you for not only today’s technology but the future of medicine, please contact us today.
