Alder Hey, an important children’s hospital in Liverpool, England, is working on integrating Microsoft HoloLens augmented reality technology into its operating theaters. The HoloLens is a headset that is able to overlay digital images onto a person’s field of view, essentially mixing virtual reality with the real world. The hospital partnered with Black Marble, a Microsoft partner based in the UK, to implement the HoloLens so that it can be used by surgeons to easily access imaging and other data during surgery.
HoloLens technology is being paired with Microsoft’s Surface Hub, a kind of digital whiteboard. The idea is that the surgical team can gather together around a Surface Hub to review patient information, discuss the details of a procedure, and select what information should be readily accessible during surgery. During the procedure, a surgeon wearing a HoloLens would be able to review a CT or MRI scan, access other data in the electronic medical records, and to be able to manipulate these so as to get a clear picture of what is being worked on and what needs to be done.
“Imaging a patient’s heart from the inside and from the outside is absolutely essential,” said Rafael Guerrero, a cardiac surgeon at Alder Hey. “I have to visualize that 3D view in my head in order to do this operation. You can display those images on a screen in the operating theatre sometimes, but it’s not easily accessible; and I can’t leave in the middle of an operation to go get more information about my patient. In many cases, the heart has already stopped in order for us to operate. Microsoft HoloLens and mixed reality will, in the future, enable me to have a patient’s scans in front of me while I’m doing the operation. If I can use technology to obtain that information, to see those images in front of me, that helps me tremendously and improves the outcome for my patient.”
Here’s a Microsoft video with the people that are implementing this project:
Via: Microsoft…
Hat tip: Engadget…