Visual Explanation of Surgery is Seen by the Patient Through Virtual Reality
What used to be left to the patient’s imagination, patients are now able to vividly see what goes on during surgery through virtual reality.
The Liver Cancer Center at Samsung Comprehensive Cancer Center launched for the first time a ‘VR education program’ to be viewed prior to surgery for patients undergoing hepatocellular carcinoma resection. The VR platform is created to resemble the actual hospital consultation room. When doctors and patients simultaneously multi-connect to the platform, an educational video is broadcasted and training begins.
In the educational video, a 3D model is created by following the patient's actual liver MRI. It is possible to adjust the transparency with the VR viewer, so the complex inner part of the liver is visible. The doctor manipulates the 3D liver model as if it were a real excision, and shows how the operation is performed. As it progresses in virtual reality, the patient can observe the resection of the tumor in his or her liver from various angles.
Furthermore, in addition to the surgical method, the educational video contains detailed information on the role of the liver and the causes of hepatocellular carcinoma, the difference between open and laparoscopic surgery, cholecystectomy during liver resection, and possible complications that may occur post-surgery.
After the training, the patient's understanding of the operation was checked by scoring each category through a questionnaire, and as a result, the score after training was about twice as high compared to before training.
Meanwhile, this study was published in the international scientific journal Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery.