Optical surgical navigation

Optical surgical navigation (OSN) broadly involves presenting a surgeon or their team with images from the surgery, which can then be used to direct action. This can take many forms, including:

• white-light endoscopy
• steroscopic microscopy
• fluorescence imaging
• AR/VR
• narrow-band imaging
• multispectral imaging

The common thread in many forms of OSN is that there is some aspect of the imagery which the operator wants to enhance, in order to improve the outcome of the surgery. For example:

• locating tumors
• locating nerves
• planning a surgical approach
• visualizing inflammation