Ukrainian Doctors Perform First VR Surgery

The Medical Team Reached Its Technological Milestone using VR Surgery Solutions

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Published: June 16, 2021

Demond Cureton

Ukranian doctors have performed their first surgery on a 12-year-old female patient using virtual reality (VR) solutions, Ukrainian media reported this week.

The patient suffered from a congenital heart defect which narrowed her aorta, blocking blood flow to her body and spiking her blood pressure., the doctors said in a Facebook post in early June.

The team chose the least invasive surgical method to treat the problem, using VR technologies, to reconstruct the blood vessals and insert an stint, or artificial tube, into her aorta.

The doctors said in the post: “Today, the girl feels perfectly healthy, and thanks to the treatment is showing full physical activity.”

The news comes as doctors increasingly turn to VR technologies to operate on patients and monitor brain functions as patients use VR programmes while in surgery.

To date, hospitals have been experimenting with several VR treatment methods but have failed to adopt the emerging technology at the state leve, the report added.

According to figures cited in the report, the global VR market has been expanding rapidly. Analysts note the market is worth $6.1 billion USD and is expected to top $20.9 billion by 2025, the report added.

Microsoft HoloLens 2, Oculus Quest, Magic Leap Rise In Medical VR Industry

The news comes just months after 13 countries, including the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Mexico, and others, presented in February at an international project on the future uses of augmented virtual reality using Microsoft’s HoloLens 2, a statement from the The Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedics by the National Academy of Medical Sciences in Ukraine read.

The Institute is the country’s active participant in the project, namely via its microsurgery and recovery surgery clinic.

The Institute’s clinic performed multiple operations using the HoloLens 2, including a reverse total shoulder arthroplasty, while observed by international specialists, the statement added.

It added surgeons could use the HoloLens 2 to access patient diagnostics as well as X-rays and CT scans. Teams can consult each other while in surgery, or switch views according to a colleauge’s position.

According to the Institute, the mixed reality (MR) devices can significantly shorten surgeries which demand precise measurments.

The statement comes as numerous VR firms have been creating immersive medical solutions to train medical teams, namely after Vancouver-based PrecisionOS launched a robotics instruction platform with the Oculus Quest allowing surgeons to practise operations on virtual patients regardless of location.

VR firms Magic Leap and Brainlab have also built an MR viewer to plan surgeries and train colleagues, allowing medical teams to better diagnose and treat patients.

 

 

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