Augmented Reality

What augmented reality is

Wearing an augmented-reality headset, the surgeon sees navigation data — instrument position, planned trajectories, and anatomic references — projected as a three-dimensional overlay on the actual surgical field.

Augmented reality computer assisted navigation. Enabling technology.

How it supports precision

Traditional navigation requires looking back and forth between the patient and a monitor; augmented reality keeps guidance and anatomy in the same visual field. That continuity supports orientation, focus, and procedural accuracy, particularly during screw placement and alignment work.

By reducing the need to mentally translate between a screen and the patient, the overlay helps the surgeon stay immersed in the operative field while still benefiting from imaging-based guidance.

When it is used

Augmented reality is used as an extension of computer-assisted navigation, most often during the instrumented portions of a case — planning and placing screws, checking alignment, and confirming trajectories without looking away from the field. It is not a separate operation or a default for every case; it is chosen when keeping guidance and anatomy in one visual field genuinely helps.

What it does not do is decide anything. The plan, the implant choice, and the verification of every step are the surgeon’s, and the overlay is always checked against what the surgeon can see and feel directly — never trusted on its own.

Its limits

Augmented reality is only as reliable as the navigation system beneath it. If registration is inaccurate, the overlay will be too — which is why it is verified against direct visualization and anatomic landmarks, not trusted blindly.

It is a guidance aid, not an autonomous system. The plan it displays, the judgment behind it, and the final verification of every implant remain the surgeon's responsibility.

What it does

In a standard navigated operation, the surgeon works on the patient, then looks up at a monitor across the room to check the navigation image, then looks back down. Augmented reality removes that back-and-forth: the navigation guidance — instrument position, planned screw trajectories, anatomic reference points — is projected as a three-dimensional overlay directly onto the surgeon's view of the actual surgical field, seen through a headset. The guidance and the anatomy occupy the same visual field, so orientation stays continuous instead of being interrupted every time a trajectory needs checking.

What actually changes in the operation is attention. Instead of mentally translating between a flat screen image and the three-dimensional patient, the surgeon sees the plan where the work is happening. That continuity matters most during the instrumented portions of a case — placing screws, confirming alignment, checking a trajectory — when small deviations are the ones worth catching.

How Dr. Choi uses it

Augmented reality is an extension of computer-assisted navigation, not a separate system or a default for every case. Dr. Choi uses it when keeping guidance in the line of sight adds value — typically during screw placement and alignment work, where continuous orientation supports accuracy. It is chosen case by case, matched to the anatomy and the plan, the same way every other tool in the room is chosen.

It does not replace surgical judgment. The overlay shows the plan; the surgeon still interprets the anatomy, makes the decisions, and verifies everything with imaging. Technology serves the operation — it never drives it.

What it means for you

For patients, the practical meaning is straightforward: the guidance that helps place instrumentation precisely stays in the surgeon's view throughout, rather than on a screen across the room. That supports steadier orientation during the parts of the operation where accuracy matters most. Combined with minimally invasive corridors, it is part of doing the complete, precise job through the smallest reasonable exposure — not a bigger operation, a better-guided one.