OpticSurg Vision BeyondOpticSurg has released an augmented reality telecollaboration system, Vision Beyond, to connect frontline health care workers with consulting clinicians in real-time.

A provider working in person with a patient can share their first-person perspective through the Vision Beyond software platform using off-the-shelf augmented reality smart glasses, which beam what they see to web-enabled devices like computers, tablets and smartphones.

The securely encrypted, HIPAA-compliant system lets remote clinicians provide audio and visual direction, broadcasting live voice calls and displaying a digital interface and visuals through the glasses to aid the on-site provider. The clinician, for example, could explain to the on-site provider what they’re seeing and even draw illustrations that are superimposed in the glasses-wearer’s field of vision.

The New York–based medtech and software startup sees its product as a long-term solution to an expected physician shortage in the years ahead.

Vision Beyond “allows on-demand access to experts who can potentially provide informed and clear support during a consultation,” OpticSurg Founder and President Dr. Tran Tu Huynh said in a news release.

“Collaboration (is) an essential piece of the care puzzle,” she said. “With Vision Beyond, we place remote medical experts in front of patients and allow surgeons, physicians, nurses and other providers to deliver the best clinical care, whether in the operating room or at a patient’s bedside. Vision Beyond represents a vast improvement for inpatient, outpatient, home health and assisted living scenarios.”

Augmented reality has been a growing industry in medicine even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Some recent examples of innovators include Medtronic, which is pairing its StealthStation S8 surgical navigation system with Surgical Theater’s SyncAR technology to help neurosurgeons visualize complex cranial procedures, while Insight Medical Systems’ Augmented Reality Visualization and Information System (ARVIS) is cleared to guide surgeons in total hip, total knee, and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty.