Opportunities and challenges of using augmented reality and heads-up display in orthopaedic surgery: A narrative review.

Background & Aim: Utilization of augmented reality (AR) and heads-up displays (HUD) to aid orthopaedic surgery has the potential to benefit surgeons and patients alike through improved accuracy, safety, and educational benefits. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the opportunity for adoption of novel technology is more relevant. The aims are to assess the technology available, to understand the current evidence regarding the benefit and to consider challenges to implementation in clinical practice.

Methods & Results: PRISMA guidelines were used to filter the literature. Of 1004 articles returned the following exclusion criteria were applied: 1) reviews/commentaries 2) unrelated to orthopaedic surgery 3) use of other AR wearables beyond visual aids leaving 42 papers for review.This review illustrates benefits including enhanced accuracy and reduced time of surgery, reduced radiation exposure and educational benefits.

Conclusion: Whilst there are obstacles to overcome, there are already reports of technology being used. As with all novel technologies, a greater understanding of the learning curve is crucial, in addition to shielding our patients from this learning curve. Improvements in usability and implementing surgeons' specific needs should increase uptake.