Neurosurgeons and engineers at Duke are working to make emergency neurosurgical procedures safer with the help the HoloLens, a new pair of augmented reality (AR) goggles from Microsoft.
The HoloLens adds to, or “augments,” our existing reality by projecting virtual, 3D images onto real-world objects.
The idea for HoloLens-aided brain surgery started with Duke neurosurgery residents Andrew Cutler, MD, and Shervin Rahimpour,MD, who were searching for a way to help guide doctors during “blind” surgeries like extraventricular drain (EVD) placement.
EVD placement is a procedure designed to relieve pressure when excess fluid gathers in the brain. To perform EVD, a surgeon must quickly drill a hole through a patient’s skull and then stick a catheter into the precise spot where fluid has pooled. Doctors rarely have access to real-time brain imaging in these situations, instead relying on static CT scans and physical “landmarks” to place the needle.
These landmarks are usually pretty accurate, Cutler said. But not always.