VR headset maps brain during surgery

Virtual reality (VR) is becoming quite useful when it comes to the medical field. At Angers University Hospital, France, physicians used a VR headset to map a patient’s brain during surgery to remove a tumour. The patient was conscious during the procedure in which doctors used a virtual environment to map zones of the brain. Until now, said mapping and monitoring neural connections in certain areas were not easily achieved in the operating room.

Neurosurgeon Philippe Menei explained, “By totally controlling what the patient sees and hears, we can put him in situations that allow us to do tests on certain connections that were not possible before.”