Physical Wellness

Watch Live The World's First NHS Cancer Surgery: Google Glass Lenses Broadcast Operating Room Drama

By Brian McNeil | Update Date: Apr 15, 2016 04:33 AM EDT

A move to potentially make healthcare more equitable has been carried out though viewing it is not recommended for the faint of heart. Shafi Ahmed, a surgeon at the Barts Health NHS Trust performed an actual surgery on a cancer patient that was streamed in real time video from the Royal London Hospital.

The medical procedure took two hours to perform with the intent of educating medical students, trainees and aspiring surgeons. The world’s first operation was show in 360-degree video that could also be seen by the public eye via The Guardian.

With the growing global interest on the first video for people to see an actual cancer operation, the website hosting the video crashed several times due to the massive viewership.

Ahmed hopes that with the privileges granted by technology, showing the world what actually happens inside the operating room could be a positive step towards making healthcare more equitable once again.

One advent of technology that made it all possible is the Google Glass. One of the people inside the room wore the Google Glass lens and was seen explaining the entire procedure (bowel cancer surgery) to the patient.

When the operation was underway, viewing not only focused on the actual operation (which started when the abdomen was opened with a scalpel) but also the whole medical team present during the procedure.

“In an operating theatre, you have noises going on, you have stress levels, you have things going wrong, you have people passing things to you. Unless you’re in that ­environment, you don’t know how to behave,” said Ahmed via the Mirror.

With the new setup over and done with, more innovations to pass medical knowledge could be on the Horizon.

Additional graphics plus and possible interaction even during the actual procedure are being planned, not to mention potential new technology-driven paraphernalia which include body and glove suits which can adapt touch-based technology.

"It’s as close as you can get to replicating it," Ahmed told ABC News.

For Ahmed, this is not the first time that he has performed a procedure with Google Glass. Back in 2014, he wore the virtual reality rendering piece as well while removing tumors from a 78-year-old patient.

Over 78,000 students witnessed the operation, placing them virtually on the spot through the eyes’ of the performing surgeon.

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