How Virtual Practice Makes Perfect

The Internet democratized knowledge, but immersive technologies like AR and VR will democratize access to experience — and revolutionize learning.

Prestigious medical institutions such as Imperial College London are using HoloLens devices in operating theatres to spot key blood vessels, bones, and muscles helping to make procedures quicker and safer.

Patients who have suffered an accident may have open wounds that require reconstructive surgery. Skin and blood vessels are taken from a healthy part of the body and used to cover the wound, enabling it to close and heal properly. A vital step in the process is connecting the blood vessels of the “new” tissue with those at the site of the wound, so oxygenated blood can reach the area.

Surgeons have traditionally used a handheld ultrasound scanner to find vessels under the skin by detecting the movement of blood. However, this is very time-consuming and still requires some guesswork as to where the vessels are and their path through body tissue, explained Dr. Dimitri Amiras — a Consultant Musculoskeletal Radiologist at…