Chinese media industries have been using live broadcasting and virtual reality technology for years. Now China's medical community is catching on to the trend. Chinese surgeons are using VR and Live Broadcast platforms to teach students and let patients experience surgical operations for themselves.
Zhongshan Hospital performed China's first VR surgery on July 20th. Special cameras and sensors broadcast a complicated hepatectomy in real time as a group of surgeons performed the operation. Three patients that underwent liver surgeries watched in awe while medical interns observed and learned. VR glasses gave viewers a real life point-of-view.
"To be honest, before I came here, I was quite scared. I had no idea what was going to happen. The VR glasses created an almost real environment. I never knew that human organs could be so complicated. And I saw it for myself, the doctors are so skilled," Recovered patient Wang Baotai said.
The Fudan University affiliated hospital is planning to use VR technology to give patients and their families a clearer understanding of planned operations. So doctors won't have to use pen and paper to draw the procedures, as has been conventionally done. The hospital hopes the technology can help strengthen trust and understanding between patients and doctors.
"It will let patients and their families see the operation and analyze it for themselves. Virtual reality will give people a better understanding of the location of the tumor in the liver. The patients can see for themselves what the doctors are planning to do to their body," Fan Jai, director of Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, said.
The hospital's VR system is still being built. According to staff, a complete VR presentation of the whole human body will be available within the next three months. When the program is finished, doctors will be able to single out bones, nerves and organs for detailed analysis.
