Even though the concept of virtual reality and robotics sounds more like something you’d read about in a Ray Bradbury or Orson Scott Card novel, this innovative technology is changing the approach neurosurgeons are taking to treat patients. In recent years virtual reality and robotic technologies have garnered positive attention for their ability to assist and guide surgeons during such calculated surgeries as brain tumor removal.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality has provided an ideal setting where neurosurgery residents are able to practice complex techniques in impressively realistic settings. According to an article in Science Daily entitled Virtual Reality and Robotics in Neurosurgery: Promise and Challenges “Virtual reality environments ‘recreate the surgical space’ in which the surgeon works, providing 3-D visual images as well as haptic (sense of touch) feedback. The ability to plan, rehearse, and “play back” operations in the brain could be particularly valuable for training neurosurgery residents.” Residents are able to gain operation room experience without causing a risk to patients, or experiencing a delay between assisting in live surgeries. Currently, only a handful of hospitals use virtual reality programs since high costs make acquiring and utilizing this technology economically prohibitive.
Robotic Technologies
A benefit during intricate surgeries, robotic technologies not only help steady a surgeon’s hand and smooth “scaling” hand movements during surgery, but they can also provide performance without muscle fatigue. Robots are currently utilized by doctors who can balance human experience and logic with the robot’s ability to provide data, optimize localization, and operate in positions that would prove difficult for humans. Robotic technologies are still in the beginning phases of utilization in the medical field. Until virtual reality environments can process equally as fast or faster than the human brain, robotic technologies will not replace human experience and state-of-the-art technologies like gamma knife and cyberknife™.
Considering the impressive rate at which technology is pressing forward, it may not be long until virtual reality and robotic technologies are used in more fine scaled surgeries. To learn more about neurosurgery, contact Dr. Duma’s Newport Beach office to request an appointment, or call 949-642-6787.
