Doctor Performs Surgery Wearing Google Glass

Surgeon in India says it could be a huge help to rural hospitals
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 20, 2013 2:46 PM CDT
Doctor Performs Surgery Wearing Google Glass
File photo of Google co-founder Sergey Brin with Google Glass.   (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A surgeon in India performed two minor operations while wearing Google Glass, a feat he says demonstrates the device's potential to transform medical care in rural areas, reports the Wall Street Journal. The surgeon did hernia and gastro-intestinal procedures and live-streamed both to a group of doctors and medical students elsewhere. Doctors in far-flung regions could someday do the same, he says, tapping into the expertise of peers in major hospitals.

“As you operate, you can webcast to three or four senior surgeons sitting in Chennai, Delhi, or Hyderabad, and we would be able guide those rural surgeons,” says JS Rajkumar. “It’s implications are huge." The big problem for now, in India and elsewhere: Getting all rural areas connected to the web. One such surgery already has taken place in the US, notes the Journal: Last month, an Ohio State University professor performed knee-replacement surgery with Google Glass so he could communicate live with a colleague elsewhere. (More Google Glass stories.)

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