The Hospital Authority (HA) said it will expand the use of mixed reality (MR) technology to cover more orthopaedic surgeries, enhancing accuracy and efficiency.
The HA said three-dimensional printing has been adopted in orthopaedics in the New Territories East Cluster since 2021, such as creating 3D models for surgeries and tumour prostheses.
It also said Prince of Wales Hospital has been making use of another method, MR technology, on 50 surgeries involving bone tumours.
Dr Wong Kwok-chuen, a consultant with the hospital’s department of orthopaedics and traumatology, said it takes a few days to create a 3D model, but the MR technology can be used anytime.
“Before you make the skin incision, you use this headset to visualise the hologram overlay on the patient. You get an X-ray vision of your patient,” he said.
“This helps a lot in understanding the surgery before you make the skin incision.”
Wong expects 140 surgeries can be performed making use of MR technology every year, including bone tumour, scoliosis and fractures.
He also said the HA is looking into whether the technology can be used during operations.
“At the moment, this technology is only [used] before you make the skin incision,” he said.
“We are still on the development phase [to see] whether we can do similar things, [so the technology] can guide the cut. We are working on that direction.”
