Exploring Deep Cervical Compartments in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology through Augmented Reality Vision: A Proof of Concept

Background: Virtual surgical planning allows surgeons to meticulously define surgical procedures by creating a digital replica of patients’ anatomy. This enables precise preoperative assessment, facilitating the selection of optimal surgical approaches and the customization of treatment plans. In neck surgery, virtual planning has been significantly underreported compared to craniofacial surgery, due to a multitude of factors, including the predominance of soft tissues, the unavailability of intraoperative navigation and the complexity of segmenting such areas. Augmented reality represents the most innovative approach to translate virtual planning for real patients, as it merges the digital world with the surgical field in real time. Surgeons can access patient-specific data directly within their field of view, through dedicated visors. In head and neck surgical oncology, augmented reality systems overlay critical anatomical information onto the surgeon’s visual field. This aids in locating and preserving vital structures, such as nerves and blood vessels, during complex procedures. In this paper, the authors examine a series of patients undergoing complex neck surgical oncology procedures with prior virtual surgical planning analysis. For each patient, the surgical plan was imported in Hololens headset to allow for intraoperative augmented reality visualization. The authors discuss the results of this preliminary investigation, tracing the conceptual framework for an increasing AR implementation in complex head and neck surgical oncology procedures.