Surgeons in Chile have performed the world’s robotic surgeries combining 3D visualisation and augmented reality (AR). Claimed as the world’s first surgery combining both AR and 3D visualisation, the surgeons employed a MARS robotic system from Levita Magnetics. The MARS systems provides surgeons with greatly improved depth perception, allowing faster and more precise procedures.

The Levita MARS robotic platform was used to perform a series of ten operations employing the Meta Quest 3 headset and the B. Braun Aesculap EinsteinVision 3D camera.

The surgeries performed at Hospital Luis Tisné, part of the governmental healthcare system in Chile, have highlighted the technology’s potential to make robotic procedures more accessible to public hospitals and ambulatory surgical centres (ACS), where healthcare resources are often limited.

“The use of augmented reality in robotic surgeries is a pioneering advancement in the public system in Chile and worldwide, allowing us to improve precision in abdominal surgeries,” said Dr Osvaldo Salgado, the Vice Minister of Health in Chile. “These surgical interventions were performed using augmented reality and the Levita robotic platform, allowing the patient’s internal structures to be visualised in 3D and improving safety and efficiency.”

Dr Rodriguez Navarro, a minimally invasive surgeon and CEO of Silicon Valley-based Levita Magnetics, was instrumental in developing the MARS robotic platform. “In surgery, viewing is everything, and this is a major leap forward in surgical visualisation,” said Dr. Rodriguez Navarro. “The surgeon-controlled stable surgical view provided by the MARS robotic system enables us to incorporate augmented reality and 3D visualisation, allowing for an unprecedented improvement in surgical view. Our goal is to empower the surgeon with the capabilities to provide a safer, faster, and more precise procedure. This is a real-world application of AR and 3D that will truly transform the way surgery is performed.”