Everyone knows that virtual reality is cool, but what if
it could also save lives?
Well we might be there sooner than we think. Doctors in
Miami announced that they performed a first-of-its-kind operation on a baby
using the lo-tech VR device Google Cardboard.
Teegan, a four-month-old girl from Minnesota, was born
with only one lung and half a heart. Doctors initially told her parents,
Cassidy and Chad Lexcen, that her situation was hopeless.
Not wanting to give up, they contacted Dr Redmond Burke,
chief of cardiovascular surgery at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, after
seeing him on a list of ’20 most innovative paediatric surgeons alive today’.
The new medical team had never seen a condition like Teegan’s before, but they began thinking of ways they could help her out.
Dr Burke’s main obstacle was getting to Teegan’s heart –
which was out of position in her chest – without causing serious damage to her
fragile body.
One way to overcome this was to make a 3D model of
Teegan’s heart, and plan the surgery before doing it. However, their 3D printer
had broken down, so they decided to try Google Cardboard.
No comments:
Post a Comment