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Mixed Reality Holographic Patient: Cheaper than an actor
Photo: Gigxr;
Cuh / dpa
Holograms as a substitute for real patients should enable medical students in Great Britain to have a more cost-effective education.
The program, which will initially be used at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, is the first of its kind in the world, according to the University of Cambridge, healthcare provider Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and US technology company GigXR.
According to the simulation, the first hologram patients suffered from asthma, anaphylaxis, pulmonary embolism and pneumonia.
After that, the focus will be on cardiology and neurology.
The prospective physicians should practice diagnoses and treatments, as can be seen in this example video.
The training system called HoloScenarios mixes natural perception with a virtual level (mixed reality).
The students wear mixed reality headsets, so they can see each other, but also work with the holograms.
According to the developers, this should enable more flexible training than conventional simulations, which involve more effort and higher costs, for example for maintaining laboratories and hiring patient actors.
The published information does not reveal which hardware is used.
GigXR cites Microsoft's HoloLense as an example of mixed reality sets.
At Addenbrooke's Hospital, students as well as nursing staff and doctors should be able to listen to the lungs of virtual patients with a hologram stethoscope, for example.
Unlike patient actors who aren't actually ill, the effects of treatments also become apparent.
However, the display quality, at least in the sample video from GigXR, corresponds to that of an outdated video game.
Accordingly, the hand movements during treatment have little to do with dealing with real people
"Mixed reality is increasingly seen as a useful method for simulation training," says project manager Arun Gupta nonetheless.
Demand is growing, also because institutions are saving on procurement.
pbe/dpa