Background: One of the main challenges for modern surgery is the effective use of the many available imaging modalities and diagnostic methods. Augmented reality systems can be used in the future to blend patient and planning information into the view of surgeons, which can improve the efficiency and safety of interventions.
Objective: In this article we present five visualization methods to integrate augmented reality displays into medical procedures and the advantages and disadvantages are explained.
Material and methods: Based on an extensive literature review the various existing approaches for integration of augmented reality displays into medical procedures are divided into five categories and the most important research results for each approach are presented.
Results: A large number of mixed and augmented reality solutions for medical interventions have been developed as research prototypes; however, only very few systems have been tested on patients.
Conclusion: In order to integrate mixed and augmented reality displays into medical practice, highly specialized solutions need to be developed. Such systems must comply with the requirements with respect to accuracy, fidelity, ergonomics and seamless integration into the surgical workflow.
Keywords: Computer graphics; Imaging; Literature review; Surgery, computer-assisted; User-computer interface.