Virtual Reality Lets Neurosurgery Patients To Look Into Their Own Brains

Last year, the excitement of virtual reality was seen in every corner. In most summits, conferences, and high-end event, you could see a corner dedicated to virtual reality experience. You only need to put on your goggle and immerse in an illusion. You can walk, move, and jump off a cliff through this experience.

Now, imagine being able to see inside of your brain through VR sets before surgery.

The same concept that is used to prepare fighter pilots is being used here to develop precision virtual reality. It provides a three-dimensional brain view of the patient before surgery.

The best thing about this technology is that it doesn’t need advanced imaging research or study. The 3D reality can be produced simply with the CT scans and MRIs available with the patient.

Precision Virtual Reality

Although it is believed that this technology will help surgeons visualizing what is really inside our skull, patients will have a great benefit. The technology assists patients and surgeons visualize information that can’t be observed through MRIs or CT scans.

To prove how effective this experience can be for patients, we found a success story.

Danielle Collins is from Bethesda, Maryland. She had to attend a class on Pilates but couldn’t because, by the time she arrived, Collins started experiencing excruciating pain in the head on the right side. The pain didn’t pass away so she had to go to the emergency room where she found out that it is a hemorrhage. This was in the right temporal lobe and the doctors were calling it arteriovenous malformation (AVM).

Of course, all of this was not understandable to Collins. She was scared and couldn’t understand what was happening. Then, using precision virtual reality, doctors showed her what is going inside her skull. She was able to see herself that the blood vessels that connected veins and arteries become twisted or tangled.

She was, in fact, able to ask doctors questions about her concerns because she could understand what is actually happening to her.

Finally, she said that understanding it all and seeing things for herself made it easier for her to go through the surgery.

Benefits of Precision Virtual Reality

In yet another article, we found out that virtual reality is helping surgeons make the first cut. They surgeons or physicians can get into the brain of a person, analyze the actual situation, make a strategy, and then make the first cut. Making the first incision without having all this information leaves room for surprises and things can go wrong.

Conclusion

Being able to see the condition of the inside of the skull assists surgeons in making the right decisions. If you know a little bit about surgeries, you may also know how important it is to make the right first incision. If you make the mistake in the first try, then either it is a lost cause or you will spend the rest of the surgery trying to make things right. With VR in the picture, the possibility of mistakes can be reduced.

For patients, knowing what is going on makes them comfortable with the procedure. When the patient is positive and cooperative, things become easier for both sides.