October 1st, 2008
Experts in London have created the world’s first fully functioning virtual heart, which they believe could revolutionise teaching for medical students and lower risks for patients undergoing heart surgery. HeartWorksTM is the first fully functional Virtual Heart which experts believe is the biggest advance in technology since Leonardo da Vinci transformed the understanding of the heart 500 years ago
Heart specialists from University College Hospital in London, who developed the model, say it has a realistic heart beat, and pumps and swells like a real heart. It is going to become the standard in teaching young cardiologists, cardiac surgeons and echocardiographers. The computer simulator could reduce how long it takes doctors to learn to perform ultrasound – a common imaging method used to examine the shape of the heart and diagnose disease that can currently take years to master.
The project was the brainchild of three cardiothoracic anaesthetists (Bruce Martin, Sue Wright and Andrew Smith) who specialise in perioperative transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) at the Heart Hospital in London. The team worked with leading experts such as Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub (who sees patients at London Medical) and computer geniuses at the leading post production company Glassworks to create the simulator. Two other eminent doctors who work at London Medical, the cardiologist Dr Malcolm Walker and Ms Carin Van Doorn, the Cardiothoracic Surgeon, both helped in advice on the modelling.
Judging by the reaction to HeartWorks so far, the software has been extremely successful and we are expecting to hear more about its capabilities in the future.
