A surgeon on the remote
British startup helps surgeons work from home
Georgy Golovanov, Hi-tech+
The Proximie platform connects doctors located in different parts of the world using sound, video and augmented reality. Even if a specialist cannot be in the operating room in person – for example, due to self–isolation - his virtual presence allows for complex operations.
Proximie was founded by Nadine Khachach-Haram, a plastic surgeon from London. The web service allows doctors to collaborate remotely, via audio, video and augmented reality. The expert, being on one side of the screen, directs the actions of the operating surgeon step by step with the help of digital labels and drawings superimposed on the streaming video, showing where to make an incision and what should be avoided.
In 2015, an early version of Proximie was tested in Peru and in The United States within the framework of the program of the Global Smile Foundation charitable Foundation, which deals with split palate operations for children. "The results were phenomenal. [The local surgeon's] skills have improved significantly – she started doing fewer corrective surgeries because there were fewer complications and was able to train other surgeons nearby," Khachach–Haram said.
Today, the platform is used for over 250 operations per month in more than 30 countries. In addition to real-time help and hints, the current version of Proximie includes the ability to overlay scans, medical records and libraries with detailed information about past operations and medical procedures. This allows doctors to hold meetings and discuss the course of treatment, writes Wired UK.
In April 2020, Proximie technology appeared in several hospitals of the British National Health System to help self-isolated surgeons continue to do their business remotely.
"The introduction of integrated technologies like Proximie into everyday and complex practice can effortlessly maximize healthcare resources, increase the volume of experience transfer, reduce the spread of the virus and, as a result, provide each patient with access to the best practices possible, regardless of where in the world they are," said the founder of the platform.
The first remote operations, for which a medical consultation of doctors connected to the operating unit using 5G was used, were carried out at the end of last year in Of Russia. The test zone was organized by Beeline and Huawei on the territory of the Skolkovo Innovation Center.
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