New technology allows doctors to perform 3D hysterectomy

What does a hysterectomy and Jurassic Park have in common? Both can be seen in 3D, and believe it or not, the 3D hysterectomy is shorter than the movie.

It’s new technology being used in Evanston, and a game changer for both surgeons and patients.

"When you go to the movies and see Jurassic Park in 3D instead of 2D, and you get that depth perception, that's what we are seeing in surgery now," said Dr. Riley Perry Lloyd.

It’s called the Endoeye Flex 3D. It’s the world's only articulating HD 3D video-scope.

Dr. Lloyd is the director of surgical core curriculum at St. Francis hospital in Evanston. He’s using the Endoeye Flex to perform a hysterectomy.

"It enhances our capacity to do the surgery more efficiently, and allows us to see the images in 3D," he said.

Those images are displayed on a special 3D monitor. And yes, Dr. Lloyd is wearing '3D glasses.'

All of this allows him to take precision to another level.
 
"To grab tissue more accurately and create less complications," he said.

There are now fewer complications, and less time, on the table.

"A normal hysterectomy can take an hour. This can shorten that procedure by 20 or 30 percent," he said.

But a shorter surgery is only one of the many patient benefits of this new 3D technology.

"They get the diagnosis more accurate, they get to go home sooner. The incision is scarless," Dr. Lloyd said.

It’s giving patients more time to see 3D movies, like Jurassic Park,

And if you think this is cool, Dr. Lloyd said the technology on the horizon will be even better, saying high definition and super magnification will soon be added to the Endoeye Flex 3D.