Every patient has a unique and individual arterial anatomy, many scientific publications support this.

In addition, the growing database of MRI-images of patients that undergo a scan to visualize their anatomy and benefit from ARtery 3D clearly shows the vast majority of variations between individuals, but also between the left and right side of the face of each patients.

According to a publication by Schelke et al (Aesthetic Surgery Journal, 2020), 1 in 6500 filler injections performed by plastic surgeons leads to vascular thrombosis. Vascular occlusion after filler embolization may lead to skin necrosis or blindness by blocking the oxygen supply to the skin and/or retina. Today, there is no known treatment to prevent or completely cure this complication.

The most added value lies within the ability to identify the high risk zones of the face by clearly visualizing the arterial anatomy. Getting a clear view on the exact location of these danger zones, is a valuable tool to strive for a safer injection technique and an improved patient experience.

Our most recent study (Waked et al, ASJ Open Forum 2022) has shown that ARtery 3D shows the individual arterial anatomy with high accuracy. The mean deviation between the visualized arterial location (by use of ARtery 3D and based on the patient’s own MRI images) and the exact arterial location visualized by duplex ultrasound was 0.31mm. This was based on a study of 20 patients and the evaluation of 216 arteries on the face.

The current version of allows you to have a relative position of the depth of the arteries, based on a colour grading scale. The brighter the red, the more superficial the artery; the darker the red, the deeper the artery.

In addition, we recently added a slider in the user interface, which allows you to determine until which depth you wish to visualize the arteries. For example, if you slide the slider to 0.5, all arteries between the skin and 5mm depth will be visualised.

Further developments of the technology will implement a more precise depth-analysis.

There are different ways to use ARtery 3D during filler injections:

1. In case of one-handed filler injections, you can hold your phone in one hand and use the other hand to perform a filler injection.
2. In case of two-handed filler injections, you can use ARtery 3D In multiple ways:

• Draw the relevant arteries within the treatment zone on the patient’s face by use of the application before performing the filler injection
• Mark the injection points on the patient’s face and verify with ARtery 3D if there is an artery located at the placed marks. If needed, the injection point can be slightly modified.
• Let your nurse/assistant hold the phone while performing the filler injections or use a stand to position your device in front of the patient’s face

ARtery3D enables a dynamic visualization of anyone’s individual arterial anatomy. The facial tracking is developed in such a way that the AR-visualization of the arteries follows the different expressions of the face. A specific algorithm is implemented, which makes sure that the arterial displacement is according to the depth of the artery beneath the skin, as well as the distance between the artery and the underlying bony structures (the deeper the artery, the less mobile it will be).

Due to the individual dynamic variations, it is advised to avoid performing a filler injection during changing facial expressions.