“Since inception, Augmedics has been a company of firsts — the first FDA-cleared AR navigation system for surgery, the first augmented reality spine surgeries in U.S., the first AR clinical accuracy studies,” Augmedics CEO Paul Ziegler said in a news release.
“With that, there has always been a high degree of interest in AR and its potential to improve the safety and efficacy of spine surgery. The milestone of 10,000 surgeries is not only a celebration of 10,000 patient lives impacted but furthers our belief we are fundamentally changing the surgical status quo. AR is here to stay.”
The latest milestone takes place as Augmedics kicks off a U.S. commercial launch of its CT-Fluoro registration method that the company says greatly expands navigation access for spine surgeons and further builds on Xvision’s open platform system flexibility. FDA cleared last year, CT-Fluoro enables surgeons to navigate off a preoperative CT scan and fluoroscopic images from a standard 2D C-arm, eliminating the need for 3D intraoperative imaging.
“Our mission to break down barriers to adoption and bring the benefits of navigation to surgeons and their patients remains steadfast,” Ziegler said. “The milestone of 10,000 patients and all it represents — the lessons learned, our growing body of clinical evidence, our surgeon advisors — is significant. Add to that the launch of CT-Fluoro, which significantly impacts the ease and access of surgical navigation, and it feels like we’re on the cusp of something really special.”
Dr. Isaac L. Moss, chair of orthopedic surgery at UConn Health in Farmington, Connecticut, performed the 10,000th surgery. A childhood fan of Superman, Moss says he was originally drawn to the cool factor of a technology that gave him “x-ray vision.” Three years on, he views the clinical value through a different lens.
“Augmented reality navigation makes instrumentation of the spine, even complex revision or deformity, a low cognitive load task,” Moss said.
“Meaning, you can achieve high levels of accuracy in complex situations with very little mental fatigue. This in turn allows surgeons to have greater focus during the potentially more complex parts of the procedure. While this can be achieved with traditional navigation, the ease of use and intuitive nature of the augmented reality system gives it a significant advantage over other platforms. As a result, we can do more complex cases with less invasive techniques on a regular basis and achieve optimal results for patients with likely less surgeon fatigue and burnout in the short and long run.”
