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Holographic displays that could show mothers their child before it is born, and let surgeons manipulate a holographic display of a patient's internal organs are being developed.

Technology giant Philips is developing the system with Israeli firm RealView.

They recently conducted the first trial of the system, with heart surgery.

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The holographic display system developed by RealView could be used to show mothers their child using live data from scans.

The pilot study involved eight patients and was conducted in collaboration with the Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petach Tikva, Israel.

RealView's system was used to display interactive, real-time 3D holographic images acquired by Philips' interventional X-ray and cardiac ultrasound systems.

In addition to viewing the patient's heart on a 2D screen, doctors in the interventional team were able to view detailed dynamic 3D holographic images of the heart 'floating in free space' during a minimally-invasive structural heart disease procedure, without using special eyewear. 

Holograms allow doctors to examine babies in the womb

The doctors were also able to manipulate the projected 3D heart structures by literally touching the holographic volumes in front of them. 

The study demonstrated the potential of the technology to enhance the context and guidance of structural heart repairs.

The firm behind the display system said it hoped it would become commonplace. 

'I see clear indications that 3D medical holography will play an important role in medical imaging in the near future,' said Aviad Kaufman, CEO of RealView Imaging Ltd.

doctors are able to maipulate the images simply by 'touching' them as they appear in mid-air

 'With the advancement of live 3D imaging and increasing clinical evidence of its value for a variety of procedures, we are convinced that our holographic technology will further enhance 3D imaging and, most importantly, improve patient care.' 

'The holographic projections enabled me to intuitively understand and interrogate the 3D spatial anatomy of the patient's heart, as well as to navigate and appreciate the device-tissue interaction during the procedure,' said Dr. Einat Birk, pediatric cardiologist and Director of the Institute of Pediatric Cardiology at Schneider Children's Medical Center.

Researchers testing an early prototype of the system

Dr. Elchanan Bruckheimer, pediatric cardiologist and Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Schneider Children's Medical Center, added: 'The ability to reach into the image and apply markings on the soft tissue anatomy in the X-ray and 3D ultrasound images would be extremely useful for guidance of these complex procedures.' 

'Our ultimate goal is to create the future of healthcare by delivering innovative solutions that enhance clinical capabilities and improve patient outcomes,' said Bert van Meurs, General Manager of Integrated Clinical Solutions and Marketing for Imaging Systems at Philips Healthcare. 

'By teaming up with partners that share our passion for innovation, we have been able to demonstrate the feasibility and potential value of the world's first holographic visualization technology targeted at guiding minimally invasive cardiac procedures.'

3D hologram of renal arteries

HOW IT WORKS 

RealView Imaging has managed to invent and develop a system that can receive volumetric stream such as 3D Ultrasound or any other static or stream of volume/s, convert it in real-time to interference patterns and project true holograms using these interference patterns. 

The holograms that are projected are with high resolution and quality, they are with full color and can be viewed from a very wide angle. 

Moreover, the reconstructed holograms are within the user's touching reach and remain in the same coordinates, independent of the viewer's location.

Realview says there are four main uses for its technology in the operating theatre

This proprietary capability enables precise and direct interaction with and within the images by literally touching the holograms and manipulating them in real-time. 

As these are true holograms there is a very high level of realism thus the viewer can intuitively comprehend even unique and complex 3D structures/pathologies and additionally the interaction with the images is as intuitive as grabbing an apple or painting a statue as the image is optically real and within touching reach.

RealView's unique IP combines advanced CGH algorithms combined with a sophisticated system level approach and cost-effective computation hardware solution enabling the calculation and then generation of real-time high quality dynamic images at a smooth continuous fashion at similar rates to conventional video projection