AR visualizations in laparoscopy: surgeon preferences and depth assessment of vascular anatomy

Introduction: This study compares five augmented reality (AR) vasculature visualization techniques in a mixed-reality laparoscopy simulator with 50 medical professionals and analyzes their impact on the surgeon. Material and methods: The different visualization techniques' abilities to convey depth were measured using the participant's accuracy in an objective depth sorting task. Demographic data and subjective measures, such as the preference of each AR visualization technique and potential application areas, were collected with questionnaires. Results: Despite measuring differences in objective measurements across the visualization techniques, they were not statistically significant. In the subjective measures, however, 55% of the participants rated visualization technique II, 'Opaque with single-color Fresnel highlights', as their favorite. Participants felt that AR could be useful for various surgeries, especially complex surgeries (100%). Almost all participants agreed that AR could potentially improve surgical parameters, such as patient safety (88%), complication rate (84%), and identifying risk structures (96%). Conclusions: More studies are needed on the effect of different visualizations on task performance, as well as more sophisticated and effective visualization techniques for the operating room. With the findings of this study, we encourage the development of new study setups to advance surgical AR.