Interaction models for surgical planning in eXtended Reality. Challenges in radiologist-surgeon communication

Abstract

Extended Reality (XR) technologies have been included in medical applications, showing benefits for patient well-being. For medical image visualization, XR offers promising benefits but also design and evaluation challenges. In this preliminary work, direct observations and interviews were conducted with two expert health workers (one surgeon and one radiologist) who used an XR technology to perform immersive anatomic visualization for surgical planning for two years. Interaction requirements and expectations were collected, which provided a basis for the position that communication during surgical planning improves if the virtual environment offers interaction models for both medical specialties. Subsequently, a technical review of medical image visualization software in PC and XR platforms was carried out to analyze the interaction techniques provided to the users. Finally, interaction models were conceived to offset the lack of interaction techniques oriented to the surgeon's needs.