Why Apple’s iPad Is Considered As A Boon For Medical Science

Surgeries are usually very difficult but liver surgeries are more complicated and difficult than others. Therefore, having a miraculous assistant is always needed. Dr. Itaru Endo (Director of Digestive Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Yokohama City University) and Dr. Andrea Schenk of Fraunhofer MEVIS have discovered an iPad application that shows interactive patient data while performing a surgery and it not only save times but also lives.

According to Dr. Itaru Endo, he’€™s always been thinking about these developments in liver operations. The liver is considered as the most vascular human organ that receives around 1.5 liters of blood per minute. Hence, this natural situation makes liver surgeries more difficult as well as lengthy as comparison to other normal surgeries. Liver surgeries require lots of planning before performing them. Doctors generally use very expensive navigation system, get copious screenshots or even memorize incision strategy to implement planning data into live operating room. It is a fact that the process is not only very time-consuming but also makes ground for various complications.

Therefore, Dr. Endo felt the need of improving the process. Later he envisioned a more safer and time-saving procedure – started using iPad app. Hence , for developing an application that assists in minimizing the risks involved with complicated liver surgery, Dr. Endo formed a team with a fellow surgeon called Dr. Rusei Matsuyama of Yokohama City University as well as his colleague , a senior software engineer called Alexander Kohn at Fraunhofer MEVIS ( a Germany-based research institute for medical image computing).

Now, with the help of this iPad app, doctors can access to 3 dimensional surgical data to work better than ever.  This application uses augmented display to overlay complicated vascular systems especially during the time of operations. The app reveals perfusion patterns of liver that cannot be seen through naked human eyes thus providing wide details into the correct location of particular blood vessels. This application also displays certain blood flow territories, being operated, and further examines possible risks in real time. Dr. Endo further says that by getting real-time images of blood vessels through this app, he can make right incisions to get success in the operation.

Use of iPad apps in surgery is going to be very popular among medical communities throughout the world as it not only saves money but also saves lives. Dr. Endo estimates that the augmented reality as well as other significant features of this app can easily replace medical equipment that costs doctors about 5,00,000 US $. According to Dr. Endo, more doctors will surely bring iPad apps into their operating rooms because he and his partners are using it for more successful operations.

“€œUsing this app on iPad can reduce complications and shorten the length of surgeries”€, says Dr. Itaru Endo.

“€œThis innovation really works. It can improve lives. And it’€™s changing surgery”€, Dr. Andrea Schenk, Head of Liver Research, Fraunhofer MEVIS Institute for medical Image Computing.