HoloLens® platform for healthcare professionals simulation training, teaching, and its urological applications: an up-to-date review

The advancements of technological devices and software are putting mixed reality in the frontline of teaching medical personnel. The Microsoft® HoloLens 2® offers a unique 3D visualization of a hologram in a physical, real environment and allows the urologists to interact with it. This review provides a state-of-the-art analysis of the applications of the HoloLens® in a medical and healthcare context of teaching through simulation designed for medical students, nurses, residents especially in urology. Our objective has been to perform a comprehensively analysis of the studies in PubMed/Medline database from January 2016 to April 2023. The identified articles that researched Microsoft HoloLens, having description of feasibility and teaching outcomes in medicine with an emphasize in urological healthcare, have been included. The qualitative analysis performed identifies an increasing use of HoloLens in a teaching setting that covers a great area of expertise in medical sciences (anatomy, anatomic pathology, biochemistry, pharmacogenomics, clinical skills, emergency medicine and nurse education, imaging), and above these urology applications (urological procedures and technique, skill improvement, perception of complex renal tumors, accuracy of calyx puncture guidance in percutaneous nephrolithotomy and targeted biopsy of the prostate) can mostly benefit from it. The future potential of HoloLens technology in teaching is immense. So far, studies have focused on feasibility, applicability, perception, comparisons with traditional methods, and limitations. Moving forward, research should also prioritize the development of applications specifically for urology. This will require validation of needs and the creation of adequate protocols to standardize future research efforts.