A specialist hospital in Park Royal is using virtual reality to train the next generation of surgeons outside the operating theatre.
St Mark’s National Bowel Hospital, part of London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH), has partnered with tech firm Revolve Labs to create what it says is the first in a planned series of immersive VR surgical training modules.
Consultant colorectal surgeon Kapil Sahnan invited the company to film a robotic pan-proctocolectomy, a five-and-a-half-hour operation to remove the colon, rectum and anus before rerouting the small intestine to an opening in the abdomen.
The procedure was recorded using multiple 360-degree cameras, head-mounted GoPros and stereoscopic outputs from the Da Vinci robot, capturing more than 16 hours of footage. The material was then recreated in 3D, allowing trainees wearing VR headsets to switch viewpoints, access additional information and revisit key stages.
Gita Lingam, a surgical trainee at St Mark’s, said: “It’s potentially a huge step forward in surgical training. The hope is that this technology would enhance our ability to perform real-life procedures and thus improve patient outcomes.”
