vr medicine

Rare Conjoined Twin Surgery Aided by VR Training, Bridging the Gap Between Two Continents

August 3, 2022 From roadtovr

Practice makes perfect, especially when it comes to life-saving procedures that deal with extreme edge cases like separating conjoined twins. Now a UK-Brazilian team have done just that, which is thanks to detailed planning sessions which allowed the surgical team to model and rehearse the operation in VR from two different continents.

As reported by BBC News, three-year-olds Bernardo and Arthur Lima were born conjoined at the cranium, also know as craniopagus twins.

Now, after seven surgeries, the boys have effectively become the oldest craniopagus twins to have been separated, a process which concluded in a final surgery that lasted 27 hours and involved around 100 medical staff.

Bernardo and Arthur Lima before separation | Image courtesy PA, BBC News

The operation was carried out in Rio de Janeiro with direction from Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

The planning stage took place over a six-month period which, lead by UK surgeon Dr. Noor ul Owase Jeelani, incorporated models of the twins based on CT and MRI scans which were imported into a program that allowed the Brazilian and UK teams to collaborate in real-time via VR headsets.

“In some ways these operations are considered the hardest of our time, and to do it in virtual reality was just really man-on-Mars stuff,” said Dr. Jeelani.

Bernardo and Arthur Lima after separation | Image courtesy PA, BBC News

Gemini Untwined, the charity founded by Dr. Jeelani, dubbed it “one of the most complex separation processes ever completed.”

“It’s a near impossible task [separating craniopagus twins] that requires a lot of thinking, a lot of planning, and when the final execution happens and you end up with two live kids that are making a good recovery is a great experience.” Dr. Jeelani said in a BBC interview.

Arthur and Bernardo will be celebrating their 4th birthday next month, and are making what Dr. Jeelani says is “an excellent recovery.”

Hologram Patients Allow Doctors To Train Anytime, Anywhere

June 30, 2022 From vrscout

Elegant training for a more civilized age.

It’s no secret that medical training is an expensive and time-consuming process. Thanks to immersive technology, however, healthcare centers around the world are capable of training doctors, therapists, and surgeons at a faster rate while spending less.

GigXR is one such company using cutting-edge immersive technology to train the next generation of medical professionals with its Gig Immersive Learning Platform. Powered by mixed reality devices like the Microsoft HoloLens 2, the platform uses mixed reality technology to project interactive hologram patients over the real world, offering students a way to hone their skills at home or in the simulation lab.

“Mixed reality is increasingly recognized as a useful method of simulator training. As institutions scale procurement, the demand for platforms that offer utility and ease of mixed reality learning management is rapidly expanding,” said Arun Gupta, Director of Postgraduate Education, Cambridge University Health Partnership.

“GigXR has already enabled instructors to better prepare learners with medically accurate simulation for observation and assessment. With HoloScenarios, we’re helping to evolve education from a mentorship-based model to one where students around the world can have equal access to top-flight expertise for mastering invention-based clinical skills.”

Available now for purchase, Gig XR’s HoloScenarios was developed in partnership with the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust. The first set of conditions focuses on respiratory conditions, including asthma, anaphylaxis, pulmonary embolism, and pneumonia scenarios.

Users assist holographic patients throughout the entirety of their healthcare journey, from diagnosis to appropriate intervention and everything in between.

Their performance is monitored by the platform in real-time, offering instant feedback. Instructors can also adjust the settings and update the difficulty for each and every scenario.

“Mixed reality is an excellent way to train. It’s incredibly intuitive. We’ve put customers in apps like HoloScenarios and they ‘just go’ – the experience is instinctual because you simply use your hands and the holograms superimpose over the real world in a way where they look like the real devices, patients or anatomical structures,” said Jared Mermey, CEO at GigXR.

“So our goal is simple: make it easier to create, deliver, and implement more high-quality mixed reality across the spectrum of healthcare teaching and training.”

As previously mentioned, GigXR’s HoloScenarios currently features several respiratory conditions with implementation scheduled for this Fall. According to the company, Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Neurology modules will be available later this year. For more information visit here.

Image Credit: GigXR

Surgery Training Platform ‘Osso VR’ Secures $66M Series C Financing

March 24, 2022 From roadtovr

Osso VR, the VR surgical training platform, today announced it’s closed a $66 million Series C financing round, something the company says will be used to broaden its VR surgical offering and hire more expert talent.

The Series C round was led by Oak HC/FT, which includes participation from Signalfire, GSR Ventures, Tiger Global Management and Kaiser Permanente Ventures.

This brings the company’s lifetime outside investment to around $109 million, with its $27 million Series B arriving in July 2021.

Founded in late 2016 by UCLA and Harvard-trained orthopedic surgeon Justin Barad, MD, Osso VR’s surgical training tech provides on-demand, educational experiences to surgeons with a focus on acquainting them with emerging techniques and technologies. The company works with industry leaders such as Johnson & Johnson, Stryker, Zimmer Biomet and Smith & Nephew.

More recently, Osso VR made strides during the COVID-19 pandemic since its VR training allows medical professionals to learn and practice from a distance. It provides modules across a number of fields, including orthopedics, endoscopy, and a host of interventional procedures.

The company has now grown to more than 150 employees, and Osso VR says it plans to grow “exponentially” over the next year.

“The future at Osso VR is incredibly bright. Each step of the way, we’ve stayed true to our mission to democratize healthcare and seen the results that our platform brings to surgical training and assessment,” said Barad. “This round of investment supports the next step of our journey to provide access to all healthcare professionals. I couldn’t be more excited to take this next step with such a talented, passionate team.”