Exploring the Clinical Benefits of Mixed-Reality Technology for Breast Lumpectomy

Abstract

This study determined the value of mixed-reality (MR) technology for doctor-patient communication, preoperative planning, intraoperative navigation, and tumor localization in treating patients with breast cancer. Fifty-eight patients with breast space-occupying lesions (16 benign and 42 malignant) who underwent breast lumpectomy at the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital of China were included in this study. The patients were randomly divided into the MR group and the computed tomography (CT) group. In the MR group, a 3D reconstruction of whole-breast ultrasound was used to localize the spatial position of the breast lesion and was combined with the 3D reconstruction of breast MRI to determine the lesion boundaries. To improve the preciseness of surgery, a postoperative survey was conducted. The MR group exhibited a higher level of patient knowledge regarding the disease, treatment, and diagnosis (26.207 ± 1.698 points) than the CT group (19.228 ± 4.889 points) (T = 7.033; $P<0.01$ ), and patient satisfaction with surgical results, treatment confidence, and communication methods (4.448 ± 0.572) was also higher than that of the CT group (3.172 4.448 ± 0.572) 0.602) $\left(P<0.05\right)$ . In addition, doctors were significantly more satisfied with surgical planning and intraoperative localization when the MR technique was used (T = 8.273; $P<0.01$ ). The use of MR technology in lumpectomy has improved patients’ understanding of surgical procedures and surgical results and has achieved positive results. This technique may provide clinical benefits.