Neil Martin, M.D., the chairman of the department of neurosurgery at UCLA in Los Angeles, used surgical theater virtual reality to map Lucas's tumor. It took 2D images from MRIs and CT scans to create a 3D reconstruction of the inside of Lucas's head.
“As somebody who’s done about 5,000 operations, there’s no question in my mind this is tremendously useful and improves the quality and efficiency of the surgery that I’m doing,” said Dr. Martin.
Dr. Martin virtually toured Lucas's brain before surgery with hand controllers and a headset. He saw the tumor was wrapped around the carotid artery.
Surgeons are using the surgical theater system at UCLA, Stanford, NYU, the Mayo Clinic, Mount Sinai and Case Western.