Augmented Reality-Assisted Design of Local Flaps: A New Practical and Educational Tool in the Field of Plastic Surgery.

Augmented reality (AR) is a new and promising technology that has been incorporated into several aspects of our everyday life, including surgery. Examples of its application throughout various fields of surgery, although most of them are in experimental stage, have already been demonstrated and published. In this article, we describe the utilization of AR to design effectively and accurately surgical flap markings just with the help of an AR-compatible mobile phone and a low-cost application. We believe that, due to its ease of use, AR will play a pivotal role to the education and the training in the field of plastic surgery and burns, and other surgical specialties alike.