Google Cardboard Helped Doctors Save A Life

Who would have thought that Google Cardboard would come in handy to save a life, knowing that it has been used to start a new life as well earlier this year as a man proposed to his girlfriend via Google Cardboard? Four-month-old Teegan Lexcen, who was born in Minnesota, came into this world with a tiny and malformed heart, while missing a left lung – leaving her with a wee bit of a chance to welcome the new year. Thanks to Google Cardboard, doctors who used it to explore her heart in an open-heart surgery at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, Florida, managed to do their bit to save her life.

Dr. Juan-Carlos Muniz, head of Nicklaus Children’s MRI department, decided to change 2D scans of her heart into stereoscopic images, before loaded them onto an iPhone and placing it within Google Cardboard so that his colleague and cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. Redmond Burke, is able to see what’s going on inside Lexcen’s heart, and Burke claimed that the experience was similar to that of “standing in the operating room”.

Having a clearer detail concerning Teegan’s heart made it a whole lot easier for Dr. Burke to figure out just where he should perform his first incision, which is right in the middle of her chest. The entire operation took 7 hours, and was successful enough that little Teegan can now have another shot at life.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Medical
Tags: Google, google cardboard, Virtual Reality (VR)