Hologram technology increases safety of brain surgery by showing brain blood vessels in 3D

[Anchor]

Cerebral vascular surgery is a highly complex procedure because there is no clear view of the numerous overlapping blood vessels.

Recently, a domestic research team has developed an innovative technology that allows for the visualization of a patient's cerebral blood vessels in 3D during the procedure.

Park Kwang-sik, a medical specialist reporter, reports.

[Report]

A high-difficulty embolization procedure involves inserting a thin tube into the maze-like cerebral blood vessels.

Next to a patient with a cerebral aneurysm, the surgeon wears special glasses and moves their hands in the air.

Through the special glasses, they examine a 3D model of the cerebral blood vessels floating as a hologram from all angles.

[Seok Jin-hoo/Neurosurgeon at Korea University Guro Hospital: "It felt like looking at a future era.... Actually experiencing it was very intuitive and fascinating."]

This is a patient-customized '3D model of cerebral blood vessels' developed by a joint research team, including Korea University Guro Hospital, using mixed reality holography technology.

Until now, during brain surgery, doctors had to memorize the patient's cerebral vascular structure in advance and frequently check the monitor during the procedure.

Even with careful approaches, the complex cerebral blood vessels often appeared overlapped, increasing the risk of vessel rupture.

However, by utilizing the mixed reality 3D technology developed by the research team, it is possible to view the cerebral blood vessels in a more real three-dimensional manner.

[Yoon Won-ki/Professor of Neurosurgery at Korea University Guro Hospital: "The three-dimensional structure untangles the overlapping vessels in real-time right in front of my eyes, so there is no confusion with the vessels, and I can see them in real-time."]

As a result of applying mixed reality 3D technology to cerebral vascular procedures more than 120 times, complications such as vessel rupture did not occur.

The research team anticipates that as this technology becomes more advanced, it could also be used for virtual reality surgical training and brain surgery navigation in the future.

This is KBS News, Park Kwang-sik.