HP Innovation Journal Issue 13: Winter 2019 | Page 51

COURTESY OF NICOLSON CENTER
At a da Vinci surgical console, a surgeon controls robotic instruments for minimally invasive procedures while observing a high-definition,
3D view of the patient’s anatomy.
VIRTUAL REALITY TRAINING
These new technologies are also crucial for advancing edu-
cation. VR visualizations are already helping train surgical
teams for new procedures and instruments before they
enter the operating room. They can also assist surgeons in
planning complex operations and help doctors communi-
cate with patients, who can view a pre-op simulation of the
surgery through a VR headset.
Years ago, trainers started using VR to help teach doctors
how to use robotic systems. Smith says his training center
now holds 10 simulators that surgeons must practice on
before they move to real da Vinci robots. The VR environ-
ment, he says, provides an unmatched training tool.
“The simulator measures your performance constantly
and tells you if you’re wasting your movements so you can
improve your work,” Smith says.
And VR systems are proving valuable to more than doctors.
Perioperative nurses—who assist surgeons—are also
being trained with them. One system, PeriopSim, which
just came on the market in May, is already being used in a
handful of hospitals.
“In the future, entire procedures
will be digitized, and doctors will
be able to communicate with the
instruments that surround them
through voice, gesture, and gaze.”
—BERK TAS
President and CEO, SentiAR
PeriopSim counts on HP technology, including the HP
Reverb headset, to create a vivid, immersive experience
that mimics what nurses will see in the operating room,
Angela Robert, Conquer Experience’s CEO and cofounder,
says. The headset is paired with a handheld controller
that trainees use to get a feel for picking up instruments
and handing them to surgeons. This invaluable tool
instills muscle memory in nurses using it so they’ll be
ready for the real thing.
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