[Winnipeg Free Press]

… “With laparoscopic surgery, or any kind of minimally invasive surgery, we lose our tactile sense, so we only rely on visual cues,” says Dr. Teodor Grantcharov, a general surgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto who specializes in gastric procedures.

“This has been one of the challenges with minimally invasive surgery, to convert the two-dimensional image which we see on a computer screen or monitor to a three-dimensional field, because we work in a three-dimensional field.”

Some surgeons have great difficulty trying to manipulate delicate instruments inside a clearly three-dimensional body with the aid of only a two-dimensional image on a screen, he says. “And this visual perception has been a problem for many years, and that’s been one of the limiting factors in laparoscopic surgery.”

Indeed, a study by the hospital a few years ago found eight per cent of surgical trainees were unable to make the visual-spatial leap needed to master standard 2D laparoscopy.  …

Late last year, Grantcharov test-drove the prototype 3D system created by German-headquartered medical instrument company Karl Storz to perform a gastric bypass aimed at helping a patient lose weight.

Wearing high-tech 3D glasses, he was able to manipulate his instruments — including a double-lens scope — and view the patient’s stomach and surrounding anatomical structures on a special 3D colour monitor.

“You’re really feeling as if you’re inside the abdomen, it’s quite remarkable,” says Grantcharov, adding that all the members of the surgical team don the special glasses so they also can watch and assist with the operation.  …

Read the full story here: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/style/surgeons-don-3d-glasses-get-remarkable-depth-perception-for-keyhole-surgery-137994408.html