Stryker says its SportSuite Vision software for the headset received De Novo authorization from the FDA in July.
Devindra Hardawar for Engadget
Medical technology company Stryker announced this week that its Apple Vision Pro app has been used in a milestone surgery. Its SportSuite Vision app for the headset was part of a hip arthroscopy at Duke Health, marking the first time the software has been put into a real world practice. Stryker said it received De Novo authorization from the FDA for the software on July 17.
Since Apple first introduced its mixed-reality headset, we’ve had questions about who the device is intended for. The debut model was never going to reach a mainstream consumer audience, and neither was the beefier M5 version that we tried last year. But it has always seemed like the Vision Pro was pointing toward a very interesting hypothetical future and was just waiting for the right situation to come along.
A complex surgery is a good example of what that right situation could be. The mixed reality experience means that a medical professional can interact with the real world and a real patient while also easily seeing content or tools in the digital space. In the case of this inaugural SportSuite Vision operation, it gave the surgeon access to Stryker’s orthopedic surgery planning tools, arthroscopic images and CT imaging while performing a hip arthroscopy.
“Using spatial computing enabled me to customize the placement of key clinical information to fit my workflow and access it within the sterile field,” said Dr. Chad Mather III, the orthopedic surgeon at Duke Health who conducted the procedure with the Apple Vision Pro. “This helped create a more comfortable, streamlined OR setup while keeping the information I needed in view.”
Considering the cost of the headset and the challenges of developing software for it, don’t expect to see your primary care physician wearing one at your physical any time soon. It also doesn’t bode well for the mainstream adoption of the device that Apple may have laid off quite a significant portion of its Vision Pro team last month. But as far as useful scenarios of mixed reality headsets go, this is the sort of creative application that could see the Vision Pro eventually reach its full potential.
