The University of Salamanca develops a virtual simulator for scoliosis surgery

The USAL multidisciplinary research group, VisualMed System, and Arsoft have been the architects of this project that offers the entire action protocol of the intervention for the acquisition of skills in your medical practice.

VisualMed System, multidisciplinary research group University of Salamanca and the company specialized in the implementation of augmented and virtual reality systems, Arsoft, have developed a virtual simulator of surgical approach to the spine for scoliosis.

This simulator, Pioneering virtual surgical approach and training system in a real environment, offers the entire action protocol of the intervention for the acquisition of skills in your medical practice.

The technological tool constitutes a “worldwide pioneering and innovative system that offers the medical student and the doctor himself the entire protocol of action for the surgical intervention of this back disease for the acquisition of skills and training of his medical practice.”, explains Juan A. Juanes, professor of Human Anatomy and head of the VisualMed System group.

One of the great advantages that the system offers is that it “fuses virtual content with real, so that the user can always be guided by the images and videos recorded of a real intervention, that you can even view in an immersive way”, comments Santiago González, director of Arsoft.

Virtual reality facilitates complete immersion for learning and skill acquisition in any area of ​​health sciences. In the field of medicine it allows “simulating any type of surgery, place the student in an operating room so that they become familiar with the environment, with the handling of surgical instruments or even introducing them inside the human body to offer you a comprehensive perspective of your study”, Professor Juan A emphasizes. Juanes.

Virtual immersion in a body structure is achieved through stereoscopic vision glasses that, along with the integration of Augmented Reality, makes them a “teaching innovation technology with great potential for training” since it allows medical students to contemplate any part of the human body in three dimensions “as if they really had it on their study table.”, adds the director of Arsoft.

Other projects

In addition to the design of the simulator for the surgical approach in a patient with scoliosis, In recent years VisualMed System and Arsoft have executed different advanced medical visualization technological systems, for teaching purposes and oriented towards clinical practice, who stand out among the most innovative in their field.

Among the solutions they have developed is an interactive virtual auscultation system and a project for immersive virtual learning of the anatomical structures of the human skull.

The first consists of a virtual reality system that allows the user to manipulate a stethoscope to locate the auscultation points on a virtual patient..

By positioning the stethoscope at the correct points, you can hear the heart sound that would be heard when used in a real case.. In the application each sound is different depending on the auscultation point and, besides, addresses the presence or absence of heart disease in the individual undergoing examination. The objective is that the student, don't just learn to auscultate, but “do it by also learning to differentiate heart sounds based on the areas and the different heart diseases that can occur in a patient”, explains Professor Juanes.

For your part, The environment created for the study of the anatomical structures of the human skull shows all the didactic potential offered by the application of virtual reality for the study of human anatomy.

With this objective they have developed specific software, executed in stereoscopic glasses, where the user can clearly see the different bones and foramina that make up the skeleton of the skull, accompanied, in turn, of teaching explanations in audio guide format. Besides, The application includes a self-assessment system that allows you to carry out an assessment of the knowledge acquired after using it.

The combination of spherical videos has also been used by Arsoft and VisualMed System to offer virtual immersions in clinical environments such as operating rooms or radiology rooms and, even, allow you to witness real surgical procedures as if you were participating in them.