Virtual reality simulations are creating better surgeons (Utah Business)
A twenty-something woman in scrubs stands alone and articulates her hands in terse, repetitive motions. An insectile headset covers her upper face; her hand clutches a controller. Though her gesticulations suggest kinship with the local psychiatric ward or rehab facility, she’s actually a medical student performing a complex surgery—virtually.
Inside her headset, the student sees a three-dimensional rendering of an operating room complete with a patient, a surgical tray with tools, and other details pertinent to a real OR. She cuts, drills, bolts, sutures, and so on through the various stages of the surgery. She is the beneficiary of a new trend in medical training, one that allows her limitless opportunity to practice a procedure over and over, prior to ever touching a patient.
Virtual reality programs allow medical students to practice surgeries
At the University of Utah’s Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library (EHSL), “we are currently doing a number of really interesting projects [with virtual technologies],” says Benjamin Engel, a U of U virtual reality programmer who runs the day-to-day operations at...
