We've already heard doctors' predictions for using Google Glass in healthcare, but overseas in Spain, some surgeons have put the "augmented reality" technology to the test. The Digital Journal reports that last Friday in Madrid, a chondrocyte transplant operation was carried out using Google Glass to allow experts in the U.S. to live-consult the procedure in real-time, streaming it on the Internet.
A 49-year-old man underwent the procedure for cartilage injuries at Madrid's 108-bed CEMTRO Clinic, which was monitored simultaneously at Stanford University, while also being streamed to 150 doctors in the U.S., Europe and Australia. Pedro Guillen, who performed to surgery, told Reuters that he was comfortable wearing the glasses.
"They wanted to know if this was uncomfortable to me. Because surgeons want to know about the comfort," Guillen said. "And I said that it wasn't [uncomfortable] because I fixed it ... and I wasn't aware that I was wearing something extra. Before beginning, everything is uncomfortable, but once you are operating you forget the rest of things."
Video of the procedure is available here, from ABC Spain.
Surgeon Rafael Grossman of the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor recently outlined how he'd use Google Glass in a blog post. "I imagine performing an operation and connecting live with [a] group of students or surgeons, anywhere, doing a live 'Hang Out,' letting them virtually 'BE' in the OR with me, seeing what I'm seeing, pointing to anatomic structures and different steps of the procedure, [through] my eyes," Grossman said.
To learn more:
- read the article in the Digital Journal
- here's the Reuters article
- see the video
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