Tech & Innovation in Healthcare

Enjoy a real-time 3D view of the surgical space.

Researchers have evaluated light-field imaging for decades, but advancements in recent years have shown the technology’s promise in healthcare procedures. Surgeons can use the imaging technology to clearly view a patient’s anatomy in real-time.

Learn about this imaging modality and how surgeons are using it for their procedures.

Imagine a New Way to Image Your Surgical Patients

Light-field imaging, also known as integral imaging or plenoptic imaging, differs from traditional imaging in that the camera captures all of the light in the image rather than just the intensity of light in the scene.

In other words, a light-field camera creates a three-dimensional (3D) image of a scene that mimics how a person naturally views a scene — allowing the user to focus on different aspects at will before and after the image is captured. This is different from the images captured by a point-and-shoot or DSLR camera where the user adjusts the focus prior to capturing the image.

At the same time, light-field imaging differs from video in the same way as still photography. The focus needs to be set at the time of the recording, and the focus cannot be adjusted after the recording is captured.

Apply Light-Field Imaging to Healthcare

The imaging technology’s clarity and its ability to focus and re-focus while in use make it an ideal tool for surgical procedures. Light-field imaging “allows the viewer to interactively explore an image with objects and anatomy at varying depths and clearly focus on any feature of interest by selecting that location during post-capture viewing,” wrote Ian A. Buchanan, MD, neurosurgeon at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, in a 2018 research paper.

Dr. Buchanan also postulated that light-field imaging would be an ideal technology for viewing subjects that may not be aligned on the same focal plane, such as when operating on a pineal tumor in a deep corridor of the brain or while looking through a dilation tube during spinal surgery.

Now, researchers have developed light-field imaging technology to aid surgeons while performing complicated spinal procedures.

Set a New Imaging Paradigm

Several companies have developed light-field cameras for use in healthcare. One such company out of Seattle, Washington is Proprio, and they’ve developed a light-field camera system that surgeons are using to clearly view anatomical structures while in the operating room (OR).

Proprio’s Paradigm system creates a lifelike image for the surgeon by combining pre-operative imaging, planning, and in-operative performance data. The system uses light-field imaging technology to create a real-time 3D view of the surgical space and the patient’s anatomy.

When used in spinal surgeries, the system’s computer-assisted navigation system has shown increased implant placement accuracy, as well as reductions in complications, possible revisions, radiation exposure, and overall time spent in the OR.

Originally, the company explored using virtual reality (VR) in surgery because the surgeons they contacted explained they wanted to make the surgical process digitized and virtual. Proprio’s team found they would need to perfect each VR component for the technology to be deployed correctly. The company decided to call an audible based on the surgeons’ feedback.

As a result, the company developed “a technology which could capture the entirety of the surgical field in real time and project a 3D image for the technician to use to accurately place implants using light-field technology,” explains Samuel R. Browd, MD, PhD, co-founder and CMO of Proprio in Seattle, Washington.

FDA clearance: On April 21, 2023, Paradigm received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FDA 510(k) clearance differs from FDA approval in that in a 510(k) submission the device manufacturer must demonstrate that their device is equivalent to a legally marketed device. The FDA groups medical devices into three different classes based on their potential risk to the consumer.

• Class I are low-risk devices
• Class II are moderate-risk devices
• Class III are high-risk devices

Generally, most Class I devices do not need FDA 510(k) clearance and Class III devices undergo a thorough FDA review before receiving FDA-approved classification. Meanwhile, an example of a Class II device is an intravenous infusion pump that delivers medications.

Collaborate to Grow the Technology

Proprio has partnered with several technology companies and educational organizations, including NVIDIA, Intel, and the University of Washington Allen School of Computer Science.

“Creating strategic and international partnerships has allowed us to further the development of our Paradigm system,” Dr. Browd says. Proprio is also working with select ORs around the country under Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval “to capture unique surgical data which will be used to accelerate future development of Paradigm,” Dr. Browd adds. The Proprio team is working closely with hospital systems to gather real-time data to isolate data-driven product solutions for the OR.

Through current and future collaborations, Proprio is hoping to collect key data to further develop Paradigm and “to implement the navigation system in spine surgery to improve workflows and surgical accuracy,” Dr. Browd explains.