Doctors Perform Historic Surgery With Aid of Virtual Reality

The Fellowship | December 17, 2019

Black and white image of a man in the surgical theater.

Israel21c shares more about how the virtual reality system used by Israeli fighter pilots is now helping neurosurgeons practice challenging procedures to help them have a better chance at success:

It wasn’t going to be easy to remove a brain tumor threatening the life of 2-year-old Ari Ellman of San Francisco. Experts at several US hospitals weren’t even sure it was possible.

But Ari’s tumor was removed, piece by piece, in a groundbreaking endonasal surgery lasting nearly 18 hours …

They felt confident enough to try the risky surgery because they were able to rehearse it to perfection using the Surgical Theater system developed by former Israel Air Force officers Moty Avisar and Alon Geri.

Surgical Theater began in 2010 with the idea of giving neurosurgeons the ability to prepare for specific surgeries the way fighter pilots prepare for specific missions.