Doctors use 3D Avatar glasses for keyhole surgery

Doctors have performed the world's first remote keyhole surgery using 3D technology similar to that featured in box-office hit Avatar.

The process trialled in Surrey improves accuracy and patient safety, according to researchers.

Special glasses allowed a surgeon to see inside the body in three dimensions to carry out procedures previously done using two-dimensional images on a monitor.

Four operations were performed on patients at the Royal County Hospital in Guildford last month, including a gall bladder removal, a hysterectomy and a colonic section. Keyhole surgery specialists and scientists watched the procedures live in a teaching symposium at the University of Surrey.

The surgical team was led by Iain Jourdan, with colleagues Professor Tim Rockall and Ralph Smith, with technology developed by university researchers. There have been previous attempts to use 3D in keyhole surgery, but the headgear was too cumbersome.

Mr Smith said: "This technology is much better tolerated by the surgeon, as he wears light 3D specs, similar to those worn in a cinema, and can move around freely, while seeing the images as though he is looking at the organ in real life. We think this will have major benefits for patient safety and will improve training for surgeons, as their brain takes in images more easily if they're closer to reality."

The breakthrough forms part of a study into surgeon fatigue using 3D equipment. The university's lead researcher Dr David Windridge is studying the changes in a surgeon's focus during prolonged operations — which can last six hours or more — using eye-tracking.

The trial patients, including an 80-year old man, are all recovering well.