UK surgeons have used VR goggles during an operation for the first time
NHS surgeons have used Apple’s Vision Pro goggles during an operation in a UK first.
A team at private Cromwell Hospital in London used the £2,700 virtual reality goggles to operate on the spine of a male patient as they navigated the surgery in augmented reality.
Only one member of the team, a scrub nurse, wore the goggles as she helped prepare, keep track of the process and choose the right tools. The device allowed them to see the real world with virtual screens highlighting important information.
‘It eliminates human error. It eliminates the guesswork,’ said Suvi Verho, lead scrub nurse at London Independent Hospital told the Daily Mail and cited the technology as a ‘gamechanger’.
‘It gives you confidence in surgery.’
The surgery was carried out two weeks ago by Syed Aftab and already two NHS trusts are in talks with Exes, the US firm that created the AI software.
The AI software helps keep a note of each stage of the operation – and will compare it against similar procedures performed by other surgeons.
Mr Aftab praised the software and said it turned a scrub nurse he had never worked with into someone with ten years’ experience.
He said that the technology would ‘superpower’ his operating team into the equivalent of a Formula One pit crew, saying: ‘That’s the idea – that it doesn’t matter if you’ve never been in a pitstop in your life. You just put the headset on.’
The surgery comes as the chancellor of the exchequer Jeremy Hunt said in his Budget speech that he wants to modernise NHS IT systems and called for health services to embrace AI.
The visionary headset, which was predicted by the Simpsons, is not yet released in the UK but sells for $3,500 in the US. Apple said they designed it to create an immersive experience whilst doing everyday tasks.
That still didn’t stop it from turning into a meme – but maybe revolutionary surgery will.