Virtual Reality and Visualization
Virtual reality refers to a set of techniques in which one interacts with a synthetic (“virtual”) environment that exists in the computer. Most current virtual reality environments are primarily visual experiences, displayed either on a computer screen or through special or stereoscopic displays, but some simulations include additional sensory information, such as sound through speakers or headphones.
Virtual reality is often used to creat advanced part-task trainers for complex medical procedures such as minimally-invasive surgery (e.g laproscopic surgery) or catheter-based “endovascular” procedures such as carotid stent placement.
Virtual reality lends itself to these procedures because the clinician in the real world already is interacting with an image on a screen (from a camera in laparoscopy, x-ray fluoroscopy) using artificial extensions of the hands (laproscopic surgical instruments and long, thin catheters in the blood vessels).
