Introduction to Virtual Reality in Medicine
For lots of us, virtual reality (VR) is nothing greater than the newest trend in video games. But for the team at JFK University Medical Center’s Neuroscience Institute, it’s a cutting-edge tool that’s transforming medical look after each patients and neurosurgeons. JFK is currently the one hospital in New Jersey to make use of Surgical Theater’s VR technology. By taking conventional 2D medical imaging—reminiscent of MRI and CT—and mixing it with the simulation technology, the team can create a 360-degree VR reconstruction of an adult or pediatric patient’s brain.
How Virtual Reality Works
With a VR headset and joysticks, doctors and patients can then take a tour of the patient’s anatomy and pathology. “It lets you fly into the brain and take a look at different anatomical structures and the various pathologies, like a brain tumor or an aneurysm. You can fly all the best way around it and take a look at it from every different angle. It’s almost like you may reach out and touch it,” says Thomas Steineke, M.D., Ph.D., FAANS, a neurosurgeon and chairman of the Neuroscience Institute.
Why Virtual Reality?
Conventional 2D imaging will be difficult for patients to interpret, adding to any apprehension or confusion they could be feeling. VR technology gives patients a sensible and comprehensible view of what’s happening of their brain and what their surgery will entail. “When a patient can see, for instance, how little blood flow is attending to their brain, their eyes open wide, and so they get it. Seeing is absolutely believing,” says vascular neurologist Farah Fourcand, M.D. “It resonates with people and empowers them.”
Patient Experience
Before surgery, patients don the VR headset to “fly through” their brain. Their surgeon can show them where their tumor is and the way it can be removed, step-by-step. Patients even see what device will likely be used and what it can seem like of their brain. The use of color and labels makes it easier for patients to grasp what they’re seeing. This fly-through will be recorded for the patient to take home and show family members. VR can be used as a part of follow-up care. “We can show patients what happened, how the aneurysm has either grown in size or where it shrinks or disappears after treatment,” says vascular neurologist Siddhart Mehta, M.D.
Improving Surgeries
The VR platform can be changing the best way surgeries are planned, practiced and performed. Without VR, surgeons have to imagine the patient’s brain in three dimensions as they give the impression of being at conventional 2D imaging. VR creates that 3D view for them. “You can do a fly-through of the tumor and see it from every direction, and specifically see it from the approach you propose to take. That lets you pre-plan. Am I making a sufficiently big bone opening? Is this the perfect approach to position the patient? What do we want to avoid to remain protected?” says neurosurgeon Yevgenia Shekhtman, M.D., FAANS.
Benefits of Virtual Reality
During surgery, the VR software will be integrated with conventional surgical software, making a “3D GPS system for the brain,” says Dr. Shekhtman. “The traditional software shows us where we’re within the brain in black-and-white MRI slices. With VR, we can also see the 3D version of that, so we’ve got multiple screens working at the identical time.” VR also reduces the period of time spent within the operating room. Dr. Steineke recently presented research that found using VR resulted in a big decrease in operative time—about 80 minutes for a four-to-five-hour surgery.
Innovative Future
Surgical Theater recently received FDA approval for the combination of its 3D VR technology with the operative microscope. JFK is considered one of only 10 institutions nationally to make use of this technology. This latest advance will overlay 3D VR data onto the live microscope image. This means surgeons can see where they’re in relation to the 3D picture at any given time and allows them to zoom contained in the brain. “Before you do any dissection, you may see exactly where the hemorrhage is, although it’s 3 or 4 inches deep contained in the brain. It’s as in the event you’re searching through the brain,” says Dr. Steineke. VR has already proven to be an efficient tool for improving patient education and care.
Conclusion
The use of virtual reality in medicine is a game-changer. It provides patients with a sensible and comprehensible view of their brain and surgery, and it helps surgeons plan and perform surgeries more effectively. With its ability to scale back operative time and improve patient outcomes, VR is an modern tool that’s transforming the sector of neurosurgery. As Dr. Steineke says, “I believe the usage of VR and augmented reality will likely be transformative. We’re considered one of a only a few sites doing it at once, but I believe in five to 10 years, almost every site that does high-level neurosurgical care will likely be using it.” For more information, you may meet the sources, make an appointment with a provider, or learn more in regards to the Brain and Spine Tumor Program at JFK University Medical Center.
