A closer look
Slicing into a human spine used to rely heavily on surgeons glancing nervously at 2D monitors across the operating room and using spatial guesswork. Medtronic effectively gives doctors X-ray vision by outfitting them with Microsoft HoloLens headsets. The augmented reality surgical navigation system takes a patient's CT or MRI scans and projects a millimeter-accurate, holographic 3D model directly onto the patient's skin in real-time. This allows surgeons to perfectly visualize hidden blood vessels and bone structures before ever making a single incision.
