Apple Vision Pro Speeds Up Surgery by Almost 20%

Surgeons who wore an Apple Vision Pro as their primary display during a tear duct procedure finished operations 19% faster than surgeons using a traditional monitor, according to a peer-reviewed study by UC San Diego.

The study, published in the journal AJO International (via iPhone in Canada), looked at 32 endoscopic surgeries to clear blocked tear ducts. In half the cases, surgeons wore Vision Pro headsets that streamed the endoscopic video feed directly into their field of view instead of looking at a monitor across the room, letting them keep a natural forward-facing posture throughout.

Average operative time came in at 34.4 minutes with the Vision Pro, compared to 42.7 minutes with the traditional monitor. Every case in both groups succeeded with no complications, and all five surgeons involved said they preferred operating with the headset, reporting lower physical and mental workload.

The researchers also found the Vision Pro was cheaper and far smaller than the monitor setup it replaced, though they caution the study is small and preliminary, and call for larger trials to confirm the results.