Duke Health surgeons have run the first operation with Stryker’s SportSuite Vision on Apple’s Vision Pro headset. Chad Mather III, an orthopedic surgeon there, led the hip arthroscopy case, the company announced September 1.
The FDA granted SportSuite Vision De Novo clearance back on July 17. It is the first application the agency has authorized for intraoperative use with Apple’s headset. The software pulls arthroscopic images, HipCheck, HipMap and CT scans into the surgeon’s line of sight, doing away with the bank of monitors that usually crowds an operating room.
Stryker sells the setup on ergonomics and focus. Rather than glancing between screens, the surgeon keeps imaging and procedural data inside the sterile field. Matt Moreau, who runs Stryker’s Sports Medicine business, said spatial computing gives surgeons a more intuitive way to reach critical information during a complex case.
Mather said he could position key clinical information where he wanted it and grab it without leaving the sterile field, which made the setup more comfortable.
The clearance and first case mark a milestone for spatial computing in the operating room, and a validation of Apple’s bet that the Vision Pro belongs in hospitals. STAT News described the system as a “surgical cockpit” for VR-assisted procedures.
