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Father with spine-crushing condition is able to walk and play guitar again thanks to 'miracle' augmented reality headset
Samuel Cerami, 53, was willing to try anything after four years of neck pain and limb numbness made life unbearable.
His spine-crushing condition made it nearly impossible to walk and he could barely get out of bed.
‘Being afraid to walk up five stairs to get to the bathroom is not the way to live. I had no strength or enthusiasm to do anything,' he told DailyMail.com.
The former planning engineer, from Staten Island, New York, had severe spinal stenosis, which is when the nerves are squashed by a narrowing of the spinal bones.
Being in constant pain put a strain on his relationship with his wife and two daughters, making him irritable and unpleasant to be around at times. It also prevented him from playing his beloved bass guitar.
MISERABLE: Samuel Cerami before the pioneering op to fix his spine-crushing condition
BACK TO BASS-ics: After resigning to the idea of never playing again, he's back making music and doing what he loves
He was planning to go in for his fourth surgery last month to relieve some of the pressure from his spine.
The last three operations had not been successful and he had come round to the idea he could spend the rest of his life in pain.
But that all changed when he received a call from his neurosurgeon, Dr Ronit Gilad from Staten Island University Hospital, that changed his life.
Dr Gilad was experimenting with new headset that could improve the accuracy and efficiency of spinal procedures.
The headset allows surgeons to see the real world but with superimposed virtual screens in front of them showing vital information – known as augmented reality.
Dr Gilad had been treating Mr Cerami since 2020 so she thought of him when she found out she was taking this technology to the operating room.
Mr Cerami said: ‘I honestly was not nervous at all when she called. I had 100 per cent in whatever she was going to do.’
The headset gave Dr Gilad a full view of Mr Cerami's spine without having to look at a monitor, offering ‘unprecedented accuracy and control during a spine procedure’ according to SIUH.
Dr Gilad made two ‘minuscule’ incisions in his lower back. She used the headset to navigate his spine and place an expandable cage between his discs to fix its curvature. She inserted screws and rods for stability.
This is less invasive than the traditional operation, which requires a larger incision.
She explained: ‘This headset has a screen, it's kind of like a virtual reality video game that recreates a three-dimensional model of the spine and merges with our GPS system that we have in the operating room.
‘It's a total game changer.’
The headset allows surgeons to see the real world but with superimposed virtual screens in front of them showing vital information – known as augmented reality
Dr Gilad described the original method: ‘You would have to open [his back] and actually visualize the spine in front of you.’
Within three weeks of recovering, Mr Cerami could spend five hours running errands when he could barely stand for five minutes before the procedure.
He could comfortably spend time with family and friends and enjoy his favorite hobbies again.
Cerami said: ‘It was like a miracle. This is definitely the future of the way medicine’s going to be.’
Cerami happily said he was able to play his bass guitar for hours on end about a month after the surgery — the first time in four years he could do so.
Cerami said: ‘For me, it was so minimally invasive that I’d be more nervous about getting my tooth pulled.
‘I couldn’t sleep that night [after the surgery], I think I was just so excited that I wasn’t in pain anymore. I didn’t feel the numbness.
‘This is the best I’ve ever felt in three years. I’m sure the thing that they used was definitely a big part of it.’
Cerami expected to stay in the hospital for up to three days but was sent home the next day.
And he is continuing to quickly recover.
Mr Cerami and Dr Gilad after the 'miracle' operation
Spinal stenosis and other degenerative conditions are common in older patients and the risk of developing them increases with age.
About 95 per cent of Americans 50 and older develop these kinds of according to the Cleveland Clinic.
But only about 250,000 to 500,000 Americans specifically have spinal stenosis. People can have spinal stenosis with no symptoms, unlike Mr Cerami.
Aging, arthritis and prior injuries can cause spinal stenosis. Mr Cerami said he was born with the condition but experienced no symptoms until four years ago.
Only 9 per cent of spinal stenosis cases are genetic, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Mr Cerami’s first spinal surgery was the fusion of a titanium plate to his spine through the front of his neck in 2020. He had to wear a neck brace for six weeks after the procedure.
But this surgery did not decompress his spine enough to relieve his pain. Dr Gilad operated for the second time about two months later, this time adding rods through the back of his neck for more spinal support.
Mr Cerami said: ‘My entire neck is rebuilt by titanium.’
He thought he was on the road to recovery. Mr Cerami did physical therapy but quickly noticed his lower back was in excruciating pain. He had no choice but to have another surgery.
Being in constant pain put a strain on his relationship with his wife and two daughters, making him irritable and unpleasant to be around at times
The third operation in 2023 on his spine through his lower back did not relieve any of Mr Cerami’s agony.
He struggled for another year until he scheduled another routine surgery to decompress his nerves and correct the shape of his spine in July.
But plans changed when Dr Gilad said Mr Cerami was a candidate for the procedure using the new device.
The augmented reality headset is manufactured by Augmedics and called the Xvision Spine System. It was introduced to hospitals in 2019 according to SIUH.
The first hospital to use the Xvision Spine System was the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland in 2020.
SIUH was the second New York hospital to use the device. It was introduced to the hospital about a month before Mr Cerami’s surgery.
Dr Gilad practiced operating with the headset on spine models with fake skin and tissue before putting her skills to the test on Cerami.
Dr Gilad believes it will revolutionize spinal surgeries because ‘it’s definitely more accurate’ than traditional methods because the surgeon never has to redirect their gaze during the operation.
Gilad summarized the benefits of using xvision technology more often: ‘It will cut down on the operative time.
'It'll cut down on the size of the incisions, improve accuracy, shorten the length of stay of the patient in the hospital, and ultimately improve outcomes and patient satisfaction.’
The Xvision Spine System is FDA-approved for both open and minimally invasive surgeries like Cerami’s according to SIUH.
So far, the device has been used to treat more than 6,500 patients in 24 states.