Head-Mounted System Provides 3D Vision to Surgical Teams

A next-generation laparoscopic visualization system uses a personal head display (PHD) to deliver a 3-dimensional high-definition (3DHD) image via lightweight glasses.

The Viking 3Di next generation 3DHD system can be used for a broad base of minimally invasive procedures, including general, urologic, gynecologic, spinal, bariatric, thoracic, and ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgery. The system provides depth perception and precise spatial orientation, while at the same time preserving tactile feedback, thus assisting enhanced surgical dissection, grasping, suturing, and stapling precision; no special training is required for its use. The system uses a revolutionary vision system that restores natural depth perception, which is sacrificed with standard two-dimensional (2D) systems. Two different proprietary 3D optical systems will be offered, as well as an optional 2DHD camera for use with the system for surgeons that may prefer it for less complex cases.


The PHD uses a HD high resolution personal video display monitor that allows surgeons to work more naturally and more comfortably, as their body positions and postures are no longer dictated by the position of video monitors within the operating room. The system also allows integration of additional secondary surgical information such as diagnostic images or secondary video sources within the live surgical image seen inside the PHD, using voice-activated, on-demand, picture-in-picture (PIP) clinical data that are integrated directly into the surgeon's view. The Next Generation 3DHD system is a product of Viking Systems (Westborough, MA, USA), and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Viking's Next Generation 3DHD system represents a huge improvement over 2D HD visualization in laparoscopic surgery,” said Gerald Andriole, M.D., chief of urological surgery at Washington University (St. Louis, MI, USA), who is the newly appointed medical advisor for Viking Systems. "Having a 3D image gives the surgeon superb control while manipulating needles for intracorporeal sewing, making knot tying simple.”

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