First spinal surgery with augmented reality headset takes place

Director of Robotic Spine Institute of Las Vegas, Dr. Kornelis Poelstra, recently led the first ever spinal surgery procedure with the use of an xvision augmented reality headset attached with a surgical robot.

Dr. Poelstra and his practice, in partnership with The Nevada Spine Clinic, completed the posterior lumbar fusion procedure on a patient using a combination of Medtronic’s Mazor X robotic platform integrated with Augmedics’ newly FDA-approved xvision.

Normally, a lengthy and fairly invasive surgery does last between 6 to 7 hours, however, this specific patient procedure with the use of the xvision headset with the Mazor X robot reduced surgery time to just about two hours. This is because the xvision headset allows the surgeon and his team to be more precise in identifying and pinpointing where to place implants.

Before the procedure, a neurological and orthopedic spine surgeon makes use of the robotic platform to meticulously pre-plan the actual placement of the implant and screw system.

Doing so makes the entire process exponentially more efficient and minimally invasive by reducing the time spent in operations and reducing the soft tissue damage compared to the open approach, to hasten recovery and healing afterward.

After the initial stage has been done and the surgery is about to start, Dr. Poelstra puts on his xvision headset, transport him to an augmented reality world that allows him to follow his three-dimensional anatomical blueprint created through the use of the software before the operation. 

As one of the main developers of the Mazor, offered by Medtronic, he uses this platform often for a more minimally invasive procedure, increased efficiency, advanced precision, and quickly minimize time spent under anesthesia in the operating room.  

Dr. Poelstra has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Groningen in The Netherlands and is leading the design and development of spinal robotics that assist in spinal fusions and has performed more than 1,000 complex robotic procedures.