On November 8th at the Mario Luzzatto Simulation Center of Humanitas University, the first test in the world on the use of augmented reality through viewers applied to minimally invasive oncological treatments was held, thanks to innovative hardware and software systems developed by the startup Endosight. Three interventional radiologists with different levels of experience have performed four ablative procedures on an anatomical preparation of a donor.
Endosight technologies presented at the European Congress of Radiolology 2019
This particular and sophisticated technology applied to medicine is still being certified: it will be officially presented for the first time in Vienna, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth edition of the European Congress of Radiology (27 February – 3 March 2019). Humanitas is at the forefront of the study and application of Endosight technologies, “to demonstrate their effectiveness at the clinical level”, as explained by Professor Luigi Solbiati, senior Consultant of Radiology at Humanitas, who participated with other colleagues in the test performed.
Augmented reality “could become the simplest and most accurate guidance system for thermoablations, biopsies and all interventional procedures, also allowing to reduce the time of execution of the procedures themselves and further reducing side effects and post-operative complications,” added Solbiati. “I really believe that it can soon become a widely used technology”, clarified the Professor, “also because, although it has been developed over years of research, it will have a low cost and will, therefore, increase the spread of these procedures”.
The test at the Simulation Center
A multidisciplinary group of 14 people participated in the test, including biomedical engineers, computer scientists, radiology technicians, nurses and doctors, including a specialist in radiology. “I believe that in an environment like Humanitas, which is growing more and more not only from a clinical point of view but also scientifically, this can be a particularly important contribution and I hope that in Humanitas we can start, as the first Centre in the world, the phase of clinical experimentation,” concluded Solbiati.
“Endosight thus confirms the effectiveness of augmented reality imaging to navigate within the human body in a minimally invasive mode and to reach accuracies now possible only in open surgery. This last test also verified the precision of the nano-sensors for detecting the flexion of various devices (needles, electrodes, antennas) and the new technique of fusion of augmented reality and ultrasound in real time,” explained Alessandro Rotilio, CEO of Endosight. “With this test Endosight successfully closes the long and meticulous preclinical testing and prepares for the pilot clinical study.
