Acclarent, a leader in developing minimally invasive ENT treatment technologies, announced their first-ever AI-powered ENT device. It simplifies surgery planning and gives surgeons real-time feedback while performing ENT-related procedures. TruSeg™ and TruPath™ are two image-guided navigation software tools of the new system and are designed to help users perform image-guided surgery, like endoscopic sinus surgery, using a machine-learning (ML) algorithm.
Charles Ebert, MD, MPH, Otolaryngologist and Professor, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, said, “As one of the first ENTs to use TruDi, I immediately recognized the opportunity for this technology to help surgeons avoid unintended consequences and expand access to safe, minimally invasive, long-term solutions to patients in need of sinus surgery. Through this innovation, we are maximizing patient care.”
More than 30 million Americans are diagnosed with sinusitis each year. They typically experience nasal congestion, facial pain or pressure, decreased sense of smell, and other symptoms that do not improve with medication. Approximately 20 percent of patients who are diagnosed with chronic sinusitis require sinus surgery.
TruDi, which launched in 2018, offers ENT surgeons real-time 3D guidance, anatomical mapping, and surgical insight to assist them throughout procedures.
Using the TrueSeg software, surgeons can automatically segment the anatomical structures of their patients based on a CT scan undertaken prior to surgery. The precise labeling of anatomical structures, such as the eyes and brain, can be used as beacons to alert the surgeon when a surgical instrument is approaching the structure during ENT procedures. TruPath computes and presents the only valid path that does not cross a bone.
