Immersive Three-dimensional Computed Tomography to Plan Chest Wall Resection for Lung Cancer.

PURPOSE:Chest wall resections for lung cancer treatment remain difficult to plan using standard 2-dimensional computed tomography. Although virtual reality headsets have been used in many medical contexts, they have not been used in chest wall resection planning. DESCRIPTION:We compared preoperative planning of a chest wall surgical resection for lung cancer treatment between senior and resident surgeons who used an immersive virtual reality device and a 2-dimensional computed tomography. EVALUATION:Chest wall resection planning was more accurate when surgeons used virtual reality vs computed tomography analysis (28.6% vs 18.3%, P = .018), and this was particularly true in the resident surgeon group (27.4% vs 8.3%, P = .0025). Predictions regarding the need for chest wall substitutes were also more accurate when they were made using virtual reality vs computed tomography analysis in all groups (96% vs 68.5%, P < .0001). Other studied parameters were not affected by the use of the virtual reality tool. CONCLUSIONS:Virtual reality may offer enhanced accuracy for chest wall resection and reconstruction planning for lung cancer treatment.