Newport Beach, Calif.-based Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian showcased Surgical Theater's virtual reality medical imaging technology in a tour of its ORs, reports The OC Register.
Three insights:
1. A headset developed by Surgical Theater enables the surgeon to virtually travel through a patient's brain and implant himself in the correct space.
2. The device assists surgeons in preparing for complex brain and spine surgeries by practicing the procedure in a virtual setting before operating on the patient.
3. It uses MRI scans to generate 3D models of the brain.
"I can do it three or four times in the virtual space and I only have to do it once — and I can do it safely — in a real patient," said Robert Louis, MD, neurosurgeon at HMHP. "Before this, there was no ability to practice surgery. The practice was on patients."