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9 SPINE Steadman Clinic taps orthopedic spine surgeon Dr. Sonny Gill By Hayley DeSilva e Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colo. added spine surgeon Sonny Gill, MD, to its team. Dr. Gill spent over a decade with Medical Group of the Carolinas in both Greer and Greenville, S.C., where he built a spine center that was recognized by U.S. News & World Report for its excellence in spinal fusion surgery, according to a Nov. 21 news release. He specializes in complex, minimally invasive spine surgery, including surgery for athletic spine injuries with motion-preserving techniques. He previously served as a fellow at the Steadman Clinic and Steadman Philippon Research Institute, where he helped care for the Denver Broncos NFL team and the Colorado Rockies MLB team. Dr. Gill provides care for the U.S. Olympic ski team. Dr. Gill works alongside scientists and researchers at Steadman Philippon Research Institute in addition to his role on the surgical team. n The potential of AR in minimally invasive TLIF procedures By Carly Behm R esearchers with New York City-based Weill Cornell Medicine were able to complete 10 minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusions using augmented reality with no complications. The study, published Sept. 30 in Neurospine, aimed to develop and evaluate a workflow protocol for AR in MIS- TLIF. AR protocol worked in parallel with the TLIF procedure and interfered only while calibrating the microscope with the workflow. The AR protocol was successful in all 10 cases with no complications. The average procedure time was about 160.6 minutes, and implementing AR added about 1.72 minutes to the surgeons' workflow. The study concluded, "Our findings support the idea that total navigation with AR may further facilitate the workflow, especially in cases with more complex anatomy and for teaching and training purposes. More work is needed to simplify the software and make AR integration more user- friendly." n Image Credit: HealthcareITNews