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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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Virtual Surgery Coming Soon?

3D models of patients' bodies would let surgeons practice first

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(Newser) – Within five years, surgeons may be able to create 3D virtual models of patients' bodies in order to practice surgeries ahead of time. While current virtual surgery lags far behind the realism of, say, combat video games, a UCLA assistant math professor believes this could change soon, reports Scientific American. High costs could delay adoption in hospitals, however.

So far, virtual surgery has mostly been limited to before and after images for reconstructive surgery and to simulating specific body parts. Doctors use MRIs or CT scans to create images of patients' bodies, but the scanners currently provide inadequate information for creating truly accurate models. The UCLA professor says faster computers with better algorithms will be able to solve this problem.

In this undated computed axial tomography (CT scan) image provided on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007 by the Sparsh Hospital, Indian girl Lakshmi is seen before she underwent a 24-hour operation on her, in Bangalore, India . The 2-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs was in stable condition Thursday...
In this undated computed axial tomography (CT scan) image provided on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007 by the Sparsh Hospital, Indian girl Lakshmi is seen before she underwent a 24-hour operation on her, in Bangalore,...   (Associated Press)
Dr. David Brooks, surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital, indicates the location of staples and bleeding on a CT scan of Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis after his gastric bypass surgery, during testimony Friday, July 20, 2007, in Boston, in Weis' medical malpractice suit against the surgeons who performed...
Dr. David Brooks, surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital, indicates the location of staples and bleeding on a CT scan of Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis after his gastric bypass surgery, during...   (Associated Press)
A doctor looks over a CT scan of a brain near the emergency room at the Childrens National Medical Center in Washington in this 20 file photo. (AP Photo/Adele Starr, FILE)
A doctor looks over a CT scan of a brain near the emergency room at the Childrens National Medical Center in Washington in this 20 file photo. (AP Photo/Adele Starr, FILE)   (Associated Press)
This undated MRI scan image released by Imperial College, London, provides a detailed look at where fat is stored internally in the human body. (AP Photo, Imperial College, London, HO)
This undated MRI scan image released by Imperial College, London, provides a detailed look at where fat is stored internally in the human body. (AP Photo, Imperial College, London, HO)   (Associated Press)
This undated computed axial tomography (CT scan) provided on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007, by the Sparsh Hospital shows 2-year-old Lakshmi before she underwent surgery in Bangalore, India . The Indian girl born with four arms and four legs was in stable condition Thursday, a day after surgeons completed a marathon operation...
This undated computed axial tomography (CT scan) provided on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007, by the Sparsh Hospital shows 2-year-old Lakshmi before she underwent surgery in Bangalore, India . The Indian girl...   (Associated Press)
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