Virtual reality (VR) is becoming more widely available and accessible as a technology due to the affordability of cheap computing power. Thus, it has made it possible for virtual reality systems to capture audiences in industry and education, as well as for personal use. Currently, a major limitation of VR headsets is that the user’s vision is completely occluded, making it difficult for them to interact with others. This is problematic in an educational setting since it is difficult for the given instructor and students to have a shared learning experience. Here, we have developed anaglyph 3D functionalities into the Visible Heart® Laboratories anatomical virtual reality platform. These functionalities augment what is viewed by the virtual reality user with an anaglyph shader which in turn projects it to an external display. This allows a multitude of users to wear anaglyph “red/blue 3D glasses” and view the same anatomy as the VR instructor is viewing in 3D, but while preserving the important 3D anatomical spatial relationships.
The recent and rapid developments of immersive, interactive 3D environments have been critical in advancing interfaces for entertainment, design, and education. For cardiovascular research, our laboratory and others have been able to use such software tools for the construction of heart models from DICOM files. These models can then be printed in hard or soft plastic from a 3D printer. In general, such models are considered useful for surgical planning and education; these modalities are being applied as critical tools in the field of cardiovascular research.
Recently, the development of virtual reality (VR) has introduced a new modality for exploring 3D virtual structures with high resolution, high flexibility, and fast turn-around times. Until recently, the adoption of these technologies has been hindered by the high costs of VR goggles and the complexities in their setup. New developments in phone software and hardware, however, have alleviated some of these difficulties by allowing smartphone screens, graphics units, and gyroscopes to provide the necessary technologies for VR. In this way, phones can be placed inside a headset holder and used freely, without being connected to the computer.
Here we explore the utility of using this VR setup in the context of internal heart anatomy visualization.
Advances in the surgical and interventional management of children with congenital heart disease has improved survival and outcomes. Each such patient is born with specific anatomical variations which call for detailed evaluations so to plan for appropriate patient-specific management. Significant progress has been made in commercially available two-dimensional imaging – i.e. echocardiogram, CT, and MRI – yet using such, three-dimensional anatomical details can be difficult to accurately represent. In addressing this concern, it has been shown that patient-specific three-dimensional modeling can be useful for interventional procedural or surgical planning [1]. Here we present two cases for which patient-specific anatomical three-dimensional modeling and printing were utilized for (1) the pre-sizing and placement of stents within a complex bifurcation pulmonary artery stenosis; and (2) evaluating the candidacy of the patient’s anatomy for a transcatheter pulmonary valve placement. Detailed within this technical brief are de-identified case information, workflows for model generations, and results regarding clinical usage. In conclusion, we found these patient-specific models to be an advantageous resource for treatment planning in these two pediatric congenital heart disease cases.
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