FundamentalVR explores the future of medical education following the surge in adoption of immersive solutions during COVID-19
FundamentalVR, global leaders in using immersive technology to improve the way surgeons are trained, announces healthcare futurist, Dr. Rafael Grossmann, has joined its Global Medical Panel. Dr. Grossmann joins an esteemed panel of healthcare leaders and medical professionals to advise the company as it continues to assess the latest advances in immersive technologies and deploy cutting-edge simulations that power a new era of training for medical educators, device manufacturers, and life science companies.
A respected thought leader and pioneering healthcare and education futurist, Dr. Grossmann is dedicated to integrating technology into medical care and driving innovations to improve the overall healthcare system. He is a full-time practicing surgeon in Maine, specializing in general, trauma, advanced laparoscopic, single incision, and robotic-assisted surgeries. In 2013, he was the first doctor ever to use Google Glass during live surgery and is a passionate advocate of technology’s transformative potential to improve patient care. A global speaker at events including TEDx, Exponential Medicine, and MedicineX, Dr. Grossmann often lectures on innovations in healthcare and how the growth in mobile and wearable platforms will improve connectivity, communication, and data management to help make medicine more efficient, intuitive, and less expensive.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges, but resulted in huge advancements in the use of immersive technologies. Now a proven solution, we are actively bringing new products to market using virtual reality for medical device and life science companies, providing a scalable sales training platform with objective measurement to enable better skills transfer, remotely, bridging the physical divide at scale,’’ said Richard Vincent, co-founder, and CEO of FundamentalVR. “As a working surgeon and leading advocate for the future of medical technology, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Grossmann to our Global Medical Panel. I’m excited to work with him to explore new ways of helping surgeons, hospitals, and the wider health industry improve patient outcomes.”
FundamentalVR solutions are powered by its patented HapticVRTM technology architecture that mimics the physical cues of surgical actions, medical tools, and tissue variations within immersive, data-driven medical educational simulations. Delivered through its Fundamental Surgery platform, it allows users to experience the same sights, sounds, and feelings they would in a real operating room. Every user interaction from the surgical gaze, respect for tissue, and movement efficiency is measured and recorded to provide a level of analysis not currently available to life science companies. It can be seen in action here.
Already in use throughout the world, Fundamental Surgery is a low-cost software platform, which uses readily available off-the-shelf hardware. It offers various modalities that fit each stage of learning. Additionally, it is the first solution to bring educational simulations accredited by medical professional bodies to standalone VR headsets such as Oculus Quest and HTC Vive Focus Plus.
Its orthopedic training simulations have been accredited by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Royal College of Surgeons of England, allowing their use to count towards a surgeon’s ongoing professional development. FundamentalVR has also recently expanded into ophthalmology and is now able to develop solutions in the sector.
“FundamentalVR has been at the vanguard of fusing VR simulations with tactical feedback, which has taken medical education to a whole new level. The ability to feel a procedure is integral to developing the muscle memory needed for surgical proficiency. Once I tried the Fundamental Surgery platform, I became an instant advocate,” said. Dr. Grossmann. “The potential for immersive technology in medical education and surgery is inspiring, and I’m thrilled to be working with the FundamentalVR team. In the future, we are going to see new delivery channels that will give surgeons seamless access to simulations that allow them to refine their skills in immersive environments, to collaborate from anywhere in the world using the advanced multiuser capabilities – such as the ones in Fundamental Surgery – and to rehearse their actual patient cases multiple times ahead of ever stepping into the OR. This may sound like science fiction, but will be a reality sooner than you think.”