More women die of cervical cancer in Zambia than from any other disease. Why? Because not enough numbers of trained surgeons are available to help. But two SMU Simmons professors, Dr. Eric Bing and Dr. Tony Cuevas, believe virtual reality can train much needed surgeons.
Bing, professor of global health, and Cuevas, clinical professor and director of instructional design, have been piloting surgery techniques with novice surgeons using virtual reality.
The technology they use is for in-home computer gaming and costs less than $1,000 per training station.
They have paired up with two other researchers, Dr. Groesbeck Parham, a professor of gynecologic oncology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and head of the CIDRZ Cervical Cancer Prevention Program in Lusaka, Zambia. And Dr. Richard Sullivan, professor and director of the Institute of Cancer Policy and Co-Director of Conflict and Health Research Group at the Kings College in London, England. Read more in D Healthcare. Also see Dallas Innovates.
