This inventor helps surgeons work with great precision

When imagining the operating room of the future, one might picture surgeons with superhuman vision. They would be able to see anatomical information such as blood vessels, as well as current data such as temperature, directly on their patient's skin. The augmented reality projector of medical engineer Stefan Hummelink makes that future a reality. He is not lacking ambition: “I will be satisfied when there is a projector in every operating room in the world.”

Not everyone has the patience to work on a single project for more than a decade. Hummelink is no stranger to perseverance, however. He completed his PhD and is now a technical physician in the Plastic Surgery department at Radboudumc. For twelve years, the technical physician has been working on and off on his Anatomy Projector: the very first of its kind. Most operating rooms use a monitor to display medical information about the patient. But that presents major challenges, especially when a plastic surgeon is operating on a microscopic scale. Hummelink's projector - he built the first version in his shed - makes it possible to show exactly on the skin where important structures such as nerves, blood vessels, and lymph nodes are located. The projector obtains this information from a CT scan.

The device is now being used in a test setting at the Radboud University Medical Center for breast reconstruction surgery. In this procedure, a piece of skin, with a blood vessel still attached, is reattached. It is important not to damage the blood vessels, otherwise the operation will fail. The projector comes in handy in this procedure.

A broken video recorder

His love for technical medicine did not just come out of the blue. As a child, Hummelink was fascinated by devices. “Then my father would come home with a broken video recorder, which we would open together with my brother. The ultimate adventure: how does it work exactly?” In secondary school, he was torn between pursuing two passions: becoming a doctor or doing something in the field of technology. “When I was in my fourth year of secondary school, the technical medicine course was set up. Then I thought: Hey, this is exactly what I'm looking for.” The rest is history.

AR suitable for the operating theater

The development of the projector began in 2012. Hummelink did his graduation research at the Radboudumc in the Plastic Surgery department and the Radiology department. At that time, augmented reality was still in its infancy. “The principle of projected augmented reality was very innovative at the time. When it turned out that our first prototypes worked, Radboudumc decided to apply for a patent. I will not soon forget that moment”, he says. He continues: ”I remember that the Microsoft HoloLens was released in 2015, around the time the patent was filed. People could put on a pair of glasses that displayed images in the lenses. Great for some applications, but ideally you want to have data available without having to put anything on your head. Especially if you already wear loupe glasses during procedures. I can picture an operating room of the future where projections are available without extra steps for the user, and transparent for everyone at the table.”

From prototype to startup

The first version of the projector was nothing more than a beamer attached to a metal pole. However, the projector is now reaching maturity. Hummelink: “The Exolumen startup was founded nine months ago. The name is a combination of ‘exo’, which means ‘from outside’, and ‘lumen’, which means both ‘light’ and ‘light cavity’.” The company, in which Hummelink is involved on a part-time basis as CTO/CMO, is now in a crucial phase: raising the necessary funding to bring the device to market.

Exolumen has promising collaborations with partners. In addition, work is underway on MDR certification: European approval that medical devices need in order to be sold and used on the market.

The technical development of the projector is also ongoing. A new module was recently added that projects the patient's skin temperature. “This new function gives the surgeon a kind of ‘superhuman vision’; you can see the patient's temperature in real-time,” explains Hummelink. Two papers have recently been published on this subject. The idea is that surgeons will eventually be able to see all the desired information needed for a specific procedure at the touch of a button. “Exactly when they need it. That is the ultimate dream.”

A promising future

The Anatomy Projector should be on the market in five years. In the coming period, the inventor has blocked out a considerable number of hours in his schedule for the projector. When asked if there are any more exciting inventions on the horizon, he replies: “What do you think?” (laughs). He is keeping the details to himself for the time being. “Because of patents. But I hope you will hear more from me.”

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