Some neurosurgeons are working with the Air Force on a surgical simulator that uses flight simulator technology.
This allows doctors to perform a realistic, interactive run throughs of complex brain surgeries before the actual procedures.
Former Israeli air force officers are working with neurosurgeons to apply flight simulator technology to surgery, creating a sophisticated medical advancement. It’s called surgical rehearsal platform. The technology transforms a patient’s medical image like this one, into a life-like and interactive three-dimensional model.
Tissues move, blood vessels break, just as they would in a human body.
“The surgeon does something the system acts and the surgeon must react,” said Alon Geri of Surgical Theater, an Ohio-based company that has received FDA clearance.
“And this is the very first time you’re really able to take the very thing that you’re going to do tomorrow, rehearse it today and then be better able to deal with it when you actually do it on a live patient,” said neurosurgeon Dr. Warren Selman.
The goal is simple: saving lives and having better patient outcomes.
“We want to allow the surgeon to pre-live the future of his patient. To be able to predict and improve the outcome before he enters the OR.”