AR for Mastectomy Planning

In breast reconstruction following a single mastectomy, the surgeon needs to choose between tens of available implants to find the one that can reproduce symmetry of the patient’s breasts. However, due to lack of measurement tools this decision is made purely visually, which means the surgeon has to order multiple implants to confirm the size for each single patient. In the following paper we present an augmented reality (AR) application, which enables surgeons to see the shape of the implants, as 3D holograms on the patient’s body. We custom developed a two-chamber implant which can gain different shapes and was used to test the system. Further, the system was tested in a user study with thirteen subjects. The study showed that subjects were able to do a comparison between real and holographic implants and come to a decision about which should be used. This method can be quicker than the traditional way, and eliminates sizer implants from the process. Further advantages of the method include the use of a more accurate, user-friendly device, that is easily extendable as new implants that are on the market can be easily added to the system dataset.

Related Publications

Amini, S. and Kersten-Oertel M., 2019. An Augmented Reality Mastectomy Surgical Planning Prototype using the HoloLensHealthcare Technology Letters (epub ahead of print). *Outstanding paper award at AE-CAI 2019.  

Amini, S.*, & Kersten-Oertel, M. (2022). A prototype 3D modelling and visualisation pipeline for improved decision-making in breast reconstruction surgeryComputer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering: Imaging & Visualization, 10(3), 313-320. (*Best paper award at AE-CAI)