Urologic Surgery in Digital Era: Foresights and Futuristic Approach

Abstract

The new scientific developments and technological opportunities that have led to significant changes all build up the digital era. In medicine, the use of new technologies in patient diagnosis and treatment processes has opened new horizons for physicians and patients. As considering for the medical training, 3-dimensional modeling opportunities, virtual reality, augmented reality, and various simulators offered by the new technologies of the digital era have become a new hope. The 3-dimensional scanning and modeling, 3-dimensional medical printing, virtual reality technologies applications and simulators in urology are very recent and valuable. Besides, the exoscope-assisted 3-dimensional open surgery provides high-resolution 3-dimensional images to surgeons with high comfort as compared with old-fashioned operating microscopes. New modalities that tried to be integrated in robotic surgery are 3-dimensional reconstruction, usage of indocyanine green, augmented reality, contrast ultrasound, haptic feedback, and availability of single port. Some new companies announced their new robotic systems in the market. The use of these new technological applications during medical training, especially at the beginning of the education curve for various surgical interventions, may be beneficial in terms of reducing possible complications that may be encountered due to inexperience at the beginning of the education process and increasing patient safety. Urology will also stay at the futuristic approach in medicine, while 3-dimensional technologies used more widely in this field.

Fluorescence-Guided Surgery and Novel Innovative Technologies for Improved Visualization in Pediatric Urology

“…Augmented reality (AR) is the superimposition of digitally produced images, audio, and video over a user’s view to enhance his/her experience of the real world. In AR, the real-world environment is presented to the user but enriched and modified with computer-assisted applications, such as images, audio, and video ( Figure 1 c) [ 10 , 38 ].…”

“…AR has a broad area of applications in medicine, especially in surgery. With AR technologies, patient radiological images can be superimposed on the surgical field, allowing surgeons to better define the anatomical structures while remaining aseptic [ 10 , 38 ].…”

Pediatric Urolithiasis: Current Surgical Strategies and Future Perspectives

“…Thanks to the visual input coming from the head-mounted display, the external world is replaced by one developed by a computer, allowing the users to dive into a novel virtual world. VR is increasingly used in medicine for many purposes, in particular in surgical training, education, and preoperative planning ( 34 , 35 ).…”

“…Unlike VR applications, in AR, the real-world environment is presented to the user but enriched and modified with computer-assisted additions. AR has a broad area of applications in medicine, especially in the field of urology ( 34 ).…”

“…Mixed reality (MR) technology combines virtual and real-world images into a new real environment, by combining VR and AR technologies. The most significant innovation that characterizes this new tool is that the computer-generated virtual images and data can interact with and used by users in real time ( 34 ).…”