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Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition | 4/201504 UK NEWS By DTI HUDDERSFIELD, UK: A University of Huddersfield researcher is harness- ingthelatestvirtualrealitytechnol- ogy to help oral and maxillofacial surgical trainees practise complex dentalsurgeries.Hisprojectaimsto provide accurate 3-D visualisations of human anatomy and surgical procedures using Oculus Rift, a vir- tualrealityhead-mounteddisplay. Indian-born Yeshwanth Pulijala is a qualified dental surgeon. Dur- ing his training, he was confronted with the problem of poor visuali- sation of dental procedures in the operating room. Being aware of these shortcomings in surgical training, as well as passionate about 3-D design and technology, he relocated to the UK to pursue postgraduateresearchontheuseof advanced technology to improve health care. During his master’s studies on 3-D medical visualisation at the University of Glasgow, Pulijala cre- ated a mobile app called SurFace that provides patient education in corrective jaw surgery. This in- spiredhimtoexplorethepotential of virtual reality for surgical edu- cation, using Oculus Rift. A com- mercial version of the device is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2016. However, Pulijala, whoiscurrentlystudyingforaPhD at the University of Huddersfield, was able to obtain the developer version for his research. Learning through observation and hands-on participation is an important part of the education of surgical trainees, and medical and dental students, according to Pulijala.“During these sessions the traineeslearnbyobservingthepro- ceduresinrealtime,”hestated.“But the problem is that not everybody can see what is happening. This is especially the case in crowded operating rooms where surgical trainees perform multiple duties. Also in surgeries confined to oral and maxillofacial zone, as the structures are complex and dense- ly enclosed in a confined space, it is very hard to observe and learn. Further, a reduction in surgical training hours is severely affecting the training of surgeons,” Pulijala pointed out. As a result, he continued, four out of ten surgical trainees are not confident in performing a proce- dure. Therefore, he is developing a tool that enables them to partici- pate virtually in an operation. His PhDprojectaimstoprovidetrainee surgeonswithclose-up,unrestrict- ed 360-degree views of a surgical procedure, yielding the potential to improve surgical training sub- stantially. “If you are a trainee surgeon, wearing an Oculus Rift, you will see the surgical procedure in an operating room environment and also be able to ‘touch’ the skull of the patient and interact with it,” Pulijala said. He is currently devel- oping the project concept and pro- ducing working prototypes. In the longer term, he envisions a system that will enable surgical trainees to practise and perform virtual operations. “But at the moment it is about creating a high-quality visualisation, interacting with the patient’s data and seeing their anatomy in great detail,” he con- cluded. Research uses virtual reality technology to train dental surgeons AD DTUK0415_04_News 10.09.15 15:04 Seite 4 DTUK0415_04_News 10.09.1515:04 Seite 4