Vital Times 2021 - 63

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
Head-Mounted Displays for
Improving Procedure Efficiency
and Ergonomics
James Thomas, MD, and Marcellene Franzen, MD
eeping up with the pace of technological
advancements within anesthesia can be
a daunting task. Head-mounted displays
(HMDs) such as smart glasses, like the Moverio
BT-35E (V11H935051, Seiko Epson Co., Japan),
are an emerging technology with a wide variety of
applications (Figure 1).
K
Within the field of anesthesia, HMDs have been
shown to be of interest in their use with ultrasound.
Ultrasound is widely utilized for a variety of
applications. It requires anesthesiologists have
an extensive knowledge of both ultrasound skills
and anatomy, as well as the hand-eye coordination
to perform technically challenging procedures,
which invariably take their eyes away from the
procedure field. This process can be even more
difficult because of the ergonomic challenges in the
operating room.
With a connection to the ultrasound machine, HMDs
project the ultrasound screen directly in front of
the operator's eyes, allowing the operator to see
both the procedure field and the ultrasound image
without having to turn their head away from the
procedure field. HMDs have been utilized and studied
in this fashion for a wide variety of applications.
In peripheral nerve blocks, HMDs have been
connected to a decrease in time to placement as
well as a significant decrease in head movements
and attempts.1 Additionally, smart glasses have
been studied in both central and peripheral venous
access.2,3
Most recently, the use of HMDs has been studied in
the placement of pediatric arterial catheters. In a
recent prospective randomized controlled trial, the
use of an HMD was shown to improve first attempt
success rate, shorten cannulation time, and lower
rates of catheter malfunction compared with the
1 Przkora R, Mora J, Balduyeu P, Meroney M, Vasilopoulos T, Solanki D. Ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia using a head-mounted video display: A randomized clinical study.
Pain Physician 2021; 24: 83-7.
2 Lim H, Kim MJ, Park M, Kim KH, Park J, Shin DW, Kim H, Jeon W, Kim H, Kim J. Use of smart glasses for ultrasound-guided peripheral venous access: a randomized
controlled pilot study. Clin Exp Emerg Med 2019; 6(4): 356-61.
3 Wu TS, Dameff CJ, Tully JL: Ultrasound-guided central venous access using Google Glass. J Emerg Med 2014; 47: 668-75.
4 Jang YE, Cho SA, Ji SH, Kim EH, Lee JH, Kim HS, Kim JT. Smart Glasses for Radial Arterial Catheterization in Pediatric Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Anesthesiology 2021: 135: 612-20.
Annual Publication 2021 | 63

Vital Times 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vital Times 2021