Doctors use Google Glass in a cancer surgery
Surgeons used Google Glass during surgery to pull out patient records.
Google Glass was used by surgeons in a cancer surgery to summon patient records. Two physicians, Dr. Szotek and Dr. Jeff Browne, each sported Google Glass during a four-hour abdominal surgery and relied on Google’s voice control to access medical information as they sliced out a tumor.
Google Glass was able to pull out the patient’s records, including MRI and X-ray information on its display for the surgeons reference, just out of the surgeons line of sight during the surgery.
The doctors have big plans for Google Glass and want to use the wearable technology to stream videos for educational purpose, giving students insights into different stages of surgery. Dr. Szotek also plans to use biological tracers that could help Google Glass identify tumors from healthy tissue.
Doctors suggest that this automatic differentiation “could revolutionize the field of cancer surgery” and will help in complete removal of cancerous tissue while still leaving as much healthy tissue behind as possible.
“This ‘Star Trek’-style technology could really have a major impact on how we practice medicine.” Dr. Szotek stated.
Google Glass is not the only wearable technology making inroads in the medical field. Researchers at Washington University recently demonstrated their own smart glasses system that was capable of identifying cancerous tissue. The High-tech eyewear could help surgeons in removing tumors from patients with breast cancer or melanoma. The eyewear that looks similar to Google Glass, shows the margins of tumors more accurately when a dye is used to fluoresce a tumor’s borders.
Source: Slashgear