Pittsburgh, June 5, 2026 — Faculty from Pitt Neurosurgery and Pitt's School of Computing and Information have developed a mixed-reality platform that lets surgeons manipulate real-time imaging in the operating room without breaking sterility, and recently used it in a live procedure at UPMC Presbyterian.
The platform comes from the Surreality Lab, co-directed by Edward Andrews, MD and Jacob Biehl of the School of Computing and Information. Paired with Apple Vision Pro goggles, the software lets surgeons view and adjust CT scans and other surgical information as virtual objects in midair using their hands, rather than scrubbing out mid-procedure to reposition imaging. The lab has grown to more than 25 core members focused on translating its research into clinical practice.
The technology progressed from lab studies to cadaver work before reaching a live operation earlier this year, when Georgios Zenonos, MD used it to resect a pituitary tumor at UPMC Presbyterian Hospitals. Andrews, whose research centers on minimally invasive spine surgery and neuro-oncology, said the appeal is practical. "Surgeons are surprisingly open to change when it makes their work easier," he said.
The work has now spun out into a startup, SymphonyMR, led by Surreality Lab research fellows Griffin Hurt and Ethan Crosby. With five patents filed and support from the University's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the team is negotiating seed investment and preparing to license the University's technology to bring the platform to operating rooms beyond Pittsburgh.
Adapted from a story originally published by the University of Pittsburgh Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.