Having accurate information and images is vital during surgery, especially when performing surgery on the delicate area of the brain. Virtual reality (VR) is becoming an important tool for doctors working with complex neurological issues. So Intel has teamed up with Surgical Theatre in order to bring improved VR imaging to hospitals.
Frank Soqui, General Manager of Virtual Reality and Gaming at Intel announced the partnership between Intel and Surgical Theatre at the VRX Europe 2017 conference in London this week. Surgical Theatre specialise in providing VR technologies that not only assist doctors with enhanced VR imaging of areas that need to be operated upon, but also to explain often complex medical problems to patients and their families.
Intel will be providing the hardware for the Surgical Theatre’s medical visualisation platform, which will deployed to an acute care hospital in Q3 of 2017. The technology is powered by Intel Core i7 processors and allows for precise planning of surgical procedure, as well as education and engagement of patients.
The technology was used by Dr Aria Fallah when treating a young patient named Kobe Morrow, who had a dangerous malformation in the brain. Use of the VR imaging technology helped Kobe and his family understand how the abnormal blood vessels in his brain were causing the problems Kobe had experienced with his motor functions and how surgery could be used to help. A short video is available to view below showing Kobe Morrow’s journey.
This VR imaging technology is just one of the ways that VR and augmented reality (AR) is being used in medicine to improve training and treatment. VR is being used for other applications, such as training medical personnel for emergency situations, or providing a way for patients to escape the hospital environment.
VRFocus will continue to bring you news of new uses for AR and VR technology in medicine.