CURRENT AND FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF VIRTUAL-REALITY FOR MEDICINE

Virtual reality is just emerging as an accepted scientific discipline for medicine. The majority of near-term applications are in the area o f surgical planning, interoperative navigation, and surgical simulatio ns. its use in rehabilitative medicine and psychiatry has made signifi cant progress. The immediate future holds promise for virtual endoscop y, which may replace standard endoscopic procedures for diagnostic scr eening, Viewing of these virtual images may be with head-mounted displ ays or hue suspended holograms. The most highly developed area is in s urgical simulations, Current generations are approaching photorealisti c representation of the anatomy, while measurement science is providin g physical tissue properties and physiologic parameters. The types of simulations range from ''needle-based'' procedures, such as standard i ntravenous insertion, central venous placement catheter, and chest-tub e insertion to more sophisticated simulations of full surgical procedu res like laparoscopic cholecystectomy or hysteroscopic resection of in teruterine myoma. In addition, haptic input devices are providing the sense of touch to the procedures. Soon there will be patient-specific models derived from computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scans that will permit a surgeon to practice a delicate surgical proce dure on the patient's specific virtual anatomy before actually perform ing the procedure on the patient. These applications will afford the s urgeon the opportunity to provide the highest surgical care possible t hrough the use of advanced technologies.