In the modern era, surgical trainees face multiple challenges with increasingly complex procedures, new technology and techniques, and stringent emphasis on decreasing patient surgical time. One of the major part of training is in Orthopaedic trauma, as these are common injuries and often need prompt diagnosis and management. In Hong Kong and Mainland China, injuries cause an annual loss of 12.6 million years of productivity and direct costs exceed USD10 billion each year. However, one of the major challenges in orthopaedic trauma is the complexity of the fracture, comminution of fragments and poor soft tissue status. As a result, experienced surgeons are often essential to prevent common complications including wound infections, loss of fracture reduction or fixation, and non-union. In order to improve and enhance surgical training, innovative technological methods are crucial for young surgeons to learn quickly and become competent clinically.

With Augmented Reality, this allows the trainee to recognize anatomy, simulate fracture reduction and fixation and also reduce radiation exposure. During surgical dissection, major neurovascular structures can be identified and protected. The supervisor can also assist the trainee to perform minimally invasive surgery with improved visualization and decreased surgical time. With these devices, resident trainees will be able to learn from the surgical simulation tools and have surgical education intra-operatively in an efficient manner. These would lead to improved surgical training in Hong Kong, clinical outcomes for patients with decreased subsequent surgeries and repeated hospital admissions, and therefore reduce healthcare costs.

By introducing the new concept of Augmented Reality in Orthopaedic Surgery, surgical training and patient outcomes will be significantly improved. This will further impact our healthcare burden as subsequent direct costs and disability will be reduced. This also places us to an international level with foreign countries as well in terms of technology, medical care and innovation.

Surgeon resident traineesTrauma patientsCommunity

2021

Healthcare, MedTech