Abstract
In recent years, the number of reports describing the use of augmented reality （AR） technology for various applications has been increasing. Additionally, while AR systems previously required high-level engineering systems, procedures using simple and inexpensive devices are now becoming available, and inexpensive and open source software applications have been developed to facilitate their use. In this paper, we report on a proposed AR-based technique that is built around a MOVERIOⓇ see-through smart eye-wear device that has the potential to assist the treatment of unilateral cleft lip patients undergoing rhinoplasty surgery. In our study, in which two cases were examined, three-dimensional （3D） images were produced from patient data using a VECTRA H1Ⓡ imaging device prior to surgery, and then superimposed on the patients’ faces using the MOVERIOⓇ device during the corrective operations. During this process, two types of image of the patient’s nose were prepared. The first image type showed the patient’s face prior to the operation, while the other showed the corrections necessary to minimize the cleft lip and match the opposite side of the patient’s face as closely as possible. Since it is possible to switch these two images in the MOVERIOⓇ device, as necessary, the surgeon can quickly reconfirm the degree of correction being made to the patient during the surgical procedure itself. Taken together, the study results show that our proposed method, which requires just a few special devices and no specialized software applications, has the potential to serve as a very useful tool for assisting doctors engaged in rhinoplasty surgery. Furthermore, even though there are a number of problems that remain to be resolved, such as differences between the image and the actual surface of the patient’s face, time lags, and tunnel vision produced by the device itself, further developments are expected to resolve these issues in the near future.
