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moke, lens fogging, debris, lighting that's never perfect: too dark
or too light, too bright or not bright enough. Add in the challenge
of operating in tunnel vision and it's a wonder surgeons can see
well enough to perform surgery at all. But they can, and perform
it well, thanks in part to a few technologies that overcome the
fundamental visualization limitations of laparoscopy.
1. Imaging upgrades
Laparoscopic instruments don't let surgeons "feel" the abdominal cavity. They
can't determine if the anatomy they're manipulating is hard, soft or textured.
You can tell the difference between a circle and square on a 2D picture, but can
you tell the difference between a soft square and hard square? That's the sort of
B E T T E R V I E W S
Technology is improving the views of laparoscopic surgery.
Dmitry Oleynikov, MD, FACS | Omaha, Neb.
Dmitry
Oleynikov,
MD,
FACS
ROOM WITH A VIEW Laparoscopy is tough enough to
perform,
without additional visualization-related challenges.
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