Augmented reality surgical navigation: Clinical applications, key technologies, and future directions

TY - JOUR

T1 - Augmented reality surgical navigation

T2 - Clinical applications, key technologies, and future directions

AU - WANG, Yuanyuan

AU - LU, Dawei

AU - FAN, Jingfan

AU - XIAO, Deqiang

AU - AI, Danni

AU - FU, Tianyu

AU - LIN, Yucong

AU - SHAO, Long

AU - CHEN, Tao

AU - SONG, Hong

AU - WANG, Yongtian

AU - YANG, Jian

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2025. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2026/2

Y1 - 2026/2

N2 - Surgical navigation has evolved significantly through advances in augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality, improving precision and safety across many clinical applications, including neurosurgery, maxillofacial, spinal, and arthroplasty procedures. By integrating preoperative imaging with real-time intraoperative data, these systems provide dynamic guidance, reduce radiation exposure, and minimize tissue damage. Key challenges persist, including intraoperative registration accuracy, flexible tissue deformation, respiratory compensation, and real-time imaging quality. Emerging solutions include artificial intelligence-driven segmentation, deformation-field modeling, and hybrid registration techniques. Future developments will include lightweight, portable systems, improved non-rigid registration algorithms, and greater clinical adoption. Despite advances in rigid-tissue applications, soft-tissue navigation requires additional innovation to address motion variability and registration reliability, ultimately advancing minimally invasive surgery and precision medicine.

AB - Surgical navigation has evolved significantly through advances in augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality, improving precision and safety across many clinical applications, including neurosurgery, maxillofacial, spinal, and arthroplasty procedures. By integrating preoperative imaging with real-time intraoperative data, these systems provide dynamic guidance, reduce radiation exposure, and minimize tissue damage. Key challenges persist, including intraoperative registration accuracy, flexible tissue deformation, respiratory compensation, and real-time imaging quality. Emerging solutions include artificial intelligence-driven segmentation, deformation-field modeling, and hybrid registration techniques. Future developments will include lightweight, portable systems, improved non-rigid registration algorithms, and greater clinical adoption. Despite advances in rigid-tissue applications, soft-tissue navigation requires additional innovation to address motion variability and registration reliability, ultimately advancing minimally invasive surgery and precision medicine.

KW - Artificial intelligence

KW - Augmented reality

KW - Multimodal image registration

KW - Surgical navigation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105032644547

U2 - 10.1016/j.vrih.2025.12.002

DO - 10.1016/j.vrih.2025.12.002

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:105032644547

SN - 2096-5796

VL - 8

SP - 1

EP - 27

JO - Virtual Reality and Intelligent Hardware

JF - Virtual Reality and Intelligent Hardware

IS - 1

ER -