• Press Release

Mount Sinai Neurosurgeon First to Use Microscope Imaging System That Integrates Virtual Reality Technology

  • New York, NY
  • (August 03, 2016)

{To watch Joshua Bederson, MD, use CaptiView during neurosurgery, click here}  

{To get a glimpse of what a neurosurgeon sees when using CaptiView, click here}  

Joshua Bederson, MD, Professor and System Chair for the Department of Neurosurgery at Mount Sinai Health System, is the first neurosurgeon to use CaptiView – a microscope image injection system from Leica Microsystems that overlays critical virtual reality imaging directly onto the brain when viewed through the eyepiece, known as the ocular, during surgery.  This new microscope technology allows images of chosen objects, including original CT, MRI and angiogram datasets, to be superimposed, or ‘injected,’ directly into the neurosurgeon’s eyepiece during microscopic surgery.

“This next-generation augmented virtual reality tool provides real-time information in ways never before realized,” says Dr. Bederson, who is now using the technology for all of his cases.  He worked closely with Leica Microsystems and Brainlab® to develop the surgical navigation tool.

The CaptiView image injection system utilizes Brainlab® Cranial 3.1 Navigation Software in conjunction with a Leica M530 OH6 microscope.  The heads-up display provides neurovascular and fiber-track information in 2D or 3D as well as on-screen video overlays visible through the ocular.  The microscope integration also allows the surgeon to switch views in the eyepiece, toggling between live and pre-operative anatomical images using handle control buttons or footswitch for ease of use and uninterrupted workflow.  Markers attached to the microscope enable positional tracking and autofocus.

This new technology will be utilized alongside Surgical Navigation Advanced Platform (SNAP) developed by Surgical Theater, LLC, which is a standard feature in the operating room.  SNAP provides advanced 3D visualization technology that gives surgeons an intraoperative and patient-specific 3D environment to plan and understand surgical approaches.

“We are driving and advancing the development of next-generation simulation and virtual reality technology, which can help improve patient outcomes and solve neurosurgical challenges,” says Dr. Bederson.

Dr. Bederson is an expert in skull-base and cerebrovascular surgery and has performed more than 3,600 neurosurgical operations at Mount Sinai.  Dr. Bederson owns equity in Surgical Theater, LLC.

 


About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.

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