Cancer is the second-leading global health threat, causing around 10 million deaths annually and leading to nearly 20 million new cancer diagnoses each year. About 60% of cancer patients undergo surgery. However, despite the clear benefits (e.g. shorter hospital stay and less complications) and pressing demand for minimally invasive surgery (MIS) in various medical fields, especially in treating soft tissue organs, its slow integration into cancer treatment (20% MIS) raises concerns. The main barrier to adopting MIS for soft tissue cancers lies in the procedure's complexity, including challenges such as limited visualization, lack of depth perception, difficulty in navigating complicated anatomies, absence of tactile feedback, and the risks of not fully removing tumours or harming surrounding healthy tissues. Addressing these issues is crucial to facilitate a shift from traditional open surgeries to MIS, ultimately reducing the strain on patients, surgeons, and the global healthcare system.
Navari has developed ARVIS (Augmented Reality Visualization- & Imaging System), the world’s first technology enabling intraoperative augmented reality (AR)-guidance in real-time during MIS, for soft tissue cancers. ARVIS serves as the catalyst needed to facilitate the transition from open surgery to MIS. ARVIS integrates augmented reality (AR) with imaging from x-ray or ultrasound to precisely identify and render a 3D model of tumours & anatomical structures in real time. This is superimposed onto the surgeon's minimally invasive camera feed, enhancing surgical navigation and precision. ARVIS is a key enabling technology to convert open surgeries to MIS. With ARVIS, surgeons can perform MIS with higher precision and less damage to healthy tissue , thereby enabling patients to gain from less invasive procedures, shortening hospital stays (4 days MIS vs 7 days open- surgery), lowering the risk of complications and reducing post-operative pain (50% more likely to feel fully recovered after 12 months vs. open surgery) and facilitating a quicker return to normal life. Furthermore, by enhancing visualization for surgeons in MIS, ARVIS helps shortening the learning curve for new surgeons or those transitioning from open surgery, making MIS the obvious first choice of surgery. By making MIS more accessible and reducing the need for open surgeries, ARVIS helps in cutting down the length of hospital stays, minimizing post-surgical complications and shortens surgery time, resulting in significant cost savings. ARVIS has demonstrated its potential to increase the adoption rate of MIS, currently underutilized despite its advantages.
