screen," says Dr. Grossmann. "And then when you mix the two, and
you interact with images, you get the concept, the abstraction, of
mixed reality."
A self-proclaimed "gadget geek," Dr. Grossmann separates mixed
reality into 3 categories:
• Education. The technology can be used to learn the steps of a pro-
cedure. There are platforms such as MedicalRealities,
MedicalHolodeck, Animares, ProximieAR, SurgicalTheater and
ImmersiveTouch that are breaking ground in teaching the steps of a sur-
gical procedure to surgeons, students and even patients, so that they
can get a better understanding of what type of procedure is being done.
• Diagnostics. The technology is almost to the point where sur-
geons can take radiological images and make them holographic 3D
images floating in the air, right in front of their eyes. And they can
interact with those 3D images, which are derived from the same data
that the surgeon use from a CAT scan or an MRI.
• Therapeutic. Although it hasn't been done yet in a manner that is
clinically reliable, the technology exists where a surgeon can look at a
mixed reality image through glasses or through a screen and can be
guided by that image to interact with the physical body of the patient.
"My ultimate responsibility is to be out there evangelizing and
preaching to the general public, the medical community, regulators
and healthcare administrators," says Dr. Grossmann. "This is becom-
ing real, and the more we talk about it, the more the perceptions are
going to change and the more this is going to become an accepted
reality."
Dr. Grossmann preaches patience. "It is not easy," he says, "The
more disruption, the more obstruction."
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