Virtual Reality and Robotics Supplement: Augmented Reality in Endovascular Neurosurgery

Endovascular neurosurgery is a discipline strongly dependent on imaging. Therefore, technology that improves how much useful information we can garner from a single image has the potential to dramatically assist decision making during endovascular procedures. Furthermore, education in an image-enhanced environment, especially with the incorporation of simulation, can improve the safety of the procedures and give interventionalists and trainees the opportunity to study or perform simulated procedures before the intervention, much like what is practiced in the field of aviation. Here, we examine the use of simulators in the training of fighter pilots and discuss how similar benefits can compensate for current deficiencies in endovascular training.

Augmented Reality and Print: Using “Layar” with the October 2012 Issue

Using the Layar AR browser, a reader can access supplemental digital content, hear audio commentary, interact with the journal’s social media networks, or visit the full-text mobile version of www.neurosurgery-online.com.

The cover of the October 2012 issue and a number of full page ads within, have been activated for scanning. When you see the Layar icon in this journal, the page has been augmented with digital links and content viewable via the Layar mobile AR browser, a free application for iOS and Android platforms.

Augmented Reality in Print: Introducing the Neurosurgery “Layar”

Since the use of the Internet to disseminate academic research began—PubMed is now 16 years old—it has been frequently asserted, “Print is dead.” However, there remains something in the experience of holding paper in our hands and turning the page that is deeply satisfying.

One of the advantages of digital media, however, has been its ability to move beyond static text, displaying video and audio. Additionally, online comments and article linking provide a level of immediate interactivity and connectivity that print cannot match. Nevertheless, print and electronic media need not be exclusive of one another, and technologies are emerging that seek to replicate these digital advantages in print.

Editor Choice: Virtual Interactive Presence and Augmented Reality (VIPAR) for Remote Surgical Assistance

Full article access for Neurosurgery subscribers.

BACKGROUND: Surgery is a highly technical field that combines continuous decision-making with the coordination of spatiovisual tasks.

OBJECTIVE: We designed a virtual interactive presence and augmented reality (VIPAR) platform that allows a remote surgeon to deliver real-time virtual assistance to a local surgeon, over a standard Internet connection.

METHODS: The VIPAR system consisted of a “local” and a “remote” station, each situated over a surgical field and a blue screen, respectively. Each station was equipped with a digital viewpiece, composed of 2 cameras for stereoscopic capture, and a high-definition viewer displaying a virtual field. The virtual field was created by digitally compositing selected elements within the remote field into the local field. The viewpieces were controlled by workstations mutually connected by the Internet, allowing virtual remote interaction in real time. Digital renderings derived from volumetric MRI were added to the virtual field to augment the surgeon’s reality. For demonstration, a fixed-formalin cadaver head and neck were obtained, and a carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and pterional craniotomy were performed under the VIPAR system.