SurgiColab: Collaborative Mixed Reality for Enhanced Pre-Surgical Planning with 3D Anatomical Models

Mixed Reality (MR) merges the physical and virtual worlds, allowing real and virtual objects to interact in real-time. This research explores a novel Mixed Reality (MR) application for collaborative surgical planning. Traditional surgical planning with 2D medical imaging poses challenges in visualising complex anatomical details. An effective collaborative planning between multiple doctors involved in the procedure requires them to easily visualise a 3D anatomical structure in a common space. The MR solution, SurgiColab, discussed in the paper allows surgeons to interact with patient-specific 3D models in an immersive environment using Microsoft HoloLens 2. SurgiColab offers key features like importing intricate 3D organ models, manipulating them for in-depth analysis (position, scale, rotation), and a clipping function to visualise internal structures. Doctor testing confirmed the application's effectiveness, where compared to traditional methods, it enhanced and facilitated teamwork. Surgeons reported a minimised cognitive workload and improved preoperative visualisation, streamlining surgical planning.