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Virtual Connections: Improving Global Neurosurgery Through Immersive Technologies

The field of neurosurgery has always been propelled by the adoption of novel technologies to improve practice. Although advancements have occurred in the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term outcomes of patients, these have not translated to global patient benefit. Up to five million people each year...

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Autor principal: Higginbotham, George
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7933682/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33681283
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fsurg.2021.629963
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author Higginbotham, George
author_facet Higginbotham, George
author_sort Higginbotham, George
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description The field of neurosurgery has always been propelled by the adoption of novel technologies to improve practice. Although advancements have occurred in the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term outcomes of patients, these have not translated to global patient benefit. Up to five million people each year do not have access to safe and affordable neurosurgical interventions, and those in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are disproportionately affected. Current approaches to increase neurosurgical capacity are unlikely to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals target by 2030, and many of the most successful programs have been disrupted by the travel restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is therefore a pressing need for creative virtual solutions. An area of growing relevance is the use of immersive technologies: virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). AR allows additional information to be superimposed onto the surgeon's visual field, thus enhancing intra-operative visualization. This can be used for remote tele-proctoring, whereby an experienced surgeon can virtually assist with a procedure regardless of geographical location. Expert guidance can therefore be given to both neurosurgical trainees and non-neurosurgical practitioners, further facilitating the growing practice of neurosurgical task-shifting in LMICs. VR simulation is another useful tool in remote neurosurgical training, with the potential to reduce the learning curve of complex procedures whilst conserving supplies in low-resource settings. The adoption of immersive technologies into practice is therefore a promising approach for achieving global neurosurgical equity, whilst adapting to the long-term disruptions of the pandemic.
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spelling pubmed-79336822021-03-06 Virtual Connections: Improving Global Neurosurgery Through Immersive Technologies Higginbotham, George Front Surg Surgery The field of neurosurgery has always been propelled by the adoption of novel technologies to improve practice. Although advancements have occurred in the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term outcomes of patients, these have not translated to global patient benefit. Up to five million people each year do not have access to safe and affordable neurosurgical interventions, and those in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are disproportionately affected. Current approaches to increase neurosurgical capacity are unlikely to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals target by 2030, and many of the most successful programs have been disrupted by the travel restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is therefore a pressing need for creative virtual solutions. An area of growing relevance is the use of immersive technologies: virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). AR allows additional information to be superimposed onto the surgeon's visual field, thus enhancing intra-operative visualization. This can be used for remote tele-proctoring, whereby an experienced surgeon can virtually assist with a procedure regardless of geographical location. Expert guidance can therefore be given to both neurosurgical trainees and non-neurosurgical practitioners, further facilitating the growing practice of neurosurgical task-shifting in LMICs. VR simulation is another useful tool in remote neurosurgical training, with the potential to reduce the learning curve of complex procedures whilst conserving supplies in low-resource settings. The adoption of immersive technologies into practice is therefore a promising approach for achieving global neurosurgical equity, whilst adapting to the long-term disruptions of the pandemic. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-02-19 /pmc/articles/PMC7933682/ /pubmed/33681283 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fsurg.2021.629963 Text en Copyright © 2021 Higginbotham. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Surgery
Higginbotham, George
Virtual Connections: Improving Global Neurosurgery Through Immersive Technologies
title Virtual Connections: Improving Global Neurosurgery Through Immersive Technologies
title_full Virtual Connections: Improving Global Neurosurgery Through Immersive Technologies
title_fullStr Virtual Connections: Improving Global Neurosurgery Through Immersive Technologies
title_full_unstemmed Virtual Connections: Improving Global Neurosurgery Through Immersive Technologies
title_short Virtual Connections: Improving Global Neurosurgery Through Immersive Technologies
title_sort virtual connections: improving global neurosurgery through immersive technologies
topic Surgery
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7933682/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33681283
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fsurg.2021.629963
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