Virtual reality trial helps city docs operate on 11-yr-old boy

Virtual reality trial helps city docs operate on 11-yr-old boy

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:31.05.2020

City surgeons used virtual reality to make hard decisions ahead of the heart surgery on an 11-year-old boy, who was flown in from Cairo in February. Doctors at MGM Healthcare said they implanted an adult size heart pump in the boy’s heart virtually using a joy stock before they used scalpels.

The boy, who has now recovered and is waiting for flights to resume, danced to his favourite Bollywood track, with the battery bag hanging across his shoulder, before a camera to show he is “happy and healthy”.

Doctors diagnosed him with restrictive cardiomyopathy and severe pulmonary hypertension. He was too weak for a heart transplant so doctors had to place an implantable heart pump called left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) as a bridge to transplant. “All existing pumps were for adults and may not fit into his chest cavity. We were scared we may not be able to close his chest after implanting it,” said senior cardiac surgeon Dr K R Balakrishnan of MGM Healthcare. “There was no way of knowing if the pump can be fitted inside the heart from x-ray and scans,” he said.

In March, when the boy began drifting in and out of consciousness, Balakrishnan sought help from R Krishnakumar, professor of department of engineering design at IIT-M. Using the CT scan, Krishnakumar’s team built a virtual reality model of the boy’s chest and heart overnight. “The robots used during surgery help doctors navigate so the percentage of error is reduced. In this virtual reality model, doctors can plan the surgery using three dimensional images of the organs. They can look at the best position to place the implant,” he said.

Once planning was done, Balakrishnan walked into the theatre with confidence. The March 6 surgery was event-free. The boy’s mother, Dr Noha Almohamady Fatouh Dabash, a paediatrician, said she saw her child’s health condition improve rapidly after the surgery. “My son now has a fresh lease of life.” She knows he may eventually require a heart transplant, but the device will keep him healthy for another six years until he gets a new heart.