London hospital streams cancer surgery live and in virtual reality [VIDEO]

On April 14 the Royal London Hospital became the first medical center in the world to stream a surgical procedure in virtual reality, live, as it actually happened. The goal of the video is to provide a training method for thousands of medical students who were able to watch the surgery, but it was viewed by a worldwide audience.

Dr. Shafi Ahmed, who is a laparoscopic and colorectal surgeon, co-founded Medical Realities, the organization that launched the event. Medical Realities has the goal of reducing medical training costs through modern technology means such as virtual reality. He worked with his team to create the “Virtual Surgeon” pilot program that allows medical students to practice surgeries before ever entering an operating room.

Thursday’s surgery had Ahmed demonstrating how that program can work by filming an actual operation. He says “It’s as close as you can get to replicating it.” The video was shot using two 360-degree cameras, as well as a number of other cameras arranged throughout the surgical suit.

Ahmed thanked the patient who agreed to undergo a public surgery, in which cancerous tissue was removed.

The Medical Realities team plans to create a library of 360-degree view operations that can be used as medical training tools.

The YouTube video below is best viewed with a virtual reality headset. It was also live-streamed to the Medical Realities website.