Those of us who have played the highly popular video game ‘Surgeon Simulator’ know that it can be quite difficult (and messy) to properly repair the human body. In the medical world, it can safely be said that the challenges are even more extreme, and much more serious.

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In March 2016, the world’s first live-streamed 360-degree surgery took place. Performed by Mr. Shafi Ahmed, the successful operation took just 12 minutes and was uploaded to YouTube, where it is still openly available to the public. Comments have unfortunately disabled, but for some pretty obvious and compelling reasons.

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Medical Realities is a company dedicated to teaching medical students how to become surgeons in a new way. Real surgeons wear augmented reality headsets and record educational procedures in full detail. Members of their website can then login and access their database, which contains modules of materials aimed at trainees who perhaps want to learn in a more intimate way.

Besides the livestreaming and educational aspects, there is another way that technology has changed the medical industry. Virtual reality has advanced a lot in recent years, and has become useful to surgeons in the medical field to utilize while they are operating. ‘FeelRealVR’ is a new platform that allows students to, through the use of some simple controls, practice injecting a needle into a simulated patient. Haptic feedback, a method of increasing realism and immersion in conventional video games, allows learning surgeons to feel from a distance how much pressure they are applying, or whether their instrument is touching bone or flesh. An animatronic arm powered by a human surgeon allows this to happen. With tools like this, VR will allow surgeons to be more precise, less invasive, and faster at their job.

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Additionally, a doctor wearing a virtual reality headset and specialized controls does not need to even be in the same room as the patient, as the controller data can be transmitted over the internet.

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Augmented reality, a variant of virtual reality, will provide its own set of advantages for medical students and professionals. With the use of a transparent digital screen, surgeons will be able to view useful information as an overlay while they perform some medical procedure.

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For example, students will be able to more quickly identify anatomical information in real time, without the need of a handbook or nearby instructor. Also, this screen could display patient information, as well as various timers or monitors that could be highly relevant in any high-risk situation.

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To end with some irony; it is clear that technology will continue to affect the medical field, and to a degree higher than any other industry, perhaps only challenged by that of weaponry and warfare.