AR goggles guide surgeons to leftover cancer cells in head and neck surgery

This study tests a new augmented reality (AR) system designed to help surgeons accurately re-remove tumor tissue during head and neck cancer surgery. After the main tumor is removed, the pathologist checks if any cancer cells remain at the edges (margins). Currently, the surgeon relies on verbal descriptions to find and remove those areas, which can be imprecise because soft tissue deforms after removal. The AR system uses 3D scanning and modeling to map the removed specimen back onto the surgical site, overlaying margin locations directly onto the patient via an AR headset. Surgeons will perform re-resection tasks on cadavers with and without the AR system to compare accuracy and usability.