Using Wearable Technology to Record Surgical Videos

Before using wearable technology during patient care, patient consent must be obtained. Surgeons should ask the patient to consent to video recording of surgery or an encounter (eg, clinic visit) for education purposes. Our institution’s consent form includes a section for this particular type of consent. If an institution’s form lacks such a section, surgeons should consult their risk management department to ensure there is a proper avenue for obtaining patient consent to record the procedure or encounter. A separate, dedicated media consent form may be required. Last, whoever operates a wearable device should be careful to use the device only during encounters that have received explicit recording consent—as opposed to wearing the device in the hallways or elsewhere in the hospital, where protected health information might be inadvertently recorded.⁴

5. Putting it all to use

After successful recording of surgery, an effort should be made to produce a high-quality video for education or demonstration purposes. Unfortunately, there is no built-in optical zooming with Google Glass or GoPro, and recording segments in which surgeons focus on detailed anatomy (with high-quality zoom) may prove difficult. Online descriptions of do-it-yourself modifications to place zoom capability on GoPro devices may be useful in surgical video recording, particularly for small surgical fields (hand or foot surgery). In addition, footage may be zoomed in on during postprocessing (Figure 3), though some resolution will be lost in the editing.

There is no practical way to incorporate Google Glass or GoPro while using surgical loupes or a surgical microscope. As a result, videos recorded with wearable technology may not reach the minimum resolution needed for useful surgical technique videos, as these traditionally are produced on high-definition camcorders with optical zoom, allowing detailed viewing of anatomical structures without resolution loss through digital zoom or postprocessing editing.

There has been tremendous benefit in incorporating wearable technology into our practice. Videos made with Google Glass and GoPro have been successfully used for surgical preparation and training, allowing orthopedic surgical residents to rehearse surgery before participating in it. Alternatively, having used Google Glass or GoPro to record a case, residents have then been able to review each surgical step on video—thereby reinforcing their knowledge of the steps, techniques, pearls, and pitfalls before performing the surgery again. Footage from surgeries recorded with Google Glass and GoPro has also been shown at weekly technique-focused conferences, allowing surgeons to analyze particular steps and highlight applicable learning points. Last, attending surgeons in our practice have used wearable technology in “coaching” mode, either reviewing case footage to identify areas for improvement or sharing footage with senior surgeons in order to elicit feedback and suggestions for possible improvement.

As new iterations of wearable video technology come to market, with advancements in both hardware and software, surgeons may be able to enhance education and teaching through seamless recording of surgical procedures. Use of wearable technology may also begin to extend beyond the operating room—to outpatient settings, such as preoperative and postoperative physical examinations. The latest versions of Google Glass and GoPro Hero allow surgeons to record surgical procedures with relative ease, without the personnel, equipment, and coordination required for traditional surgical videography.

Video 1. Coracoid harvest for transfer during Latarjet procedure performed and filmed by Dr. Jobin using GoPro Hero 3.

Video 2. Distal biceps repair performed by Dr. Makhni and Dr. Jobin, filmed by Dr. Makhni using Google Glass.