UK surgeons use Apple Vision Pro during surgery to 'eliminate human error'

A team of NHS surgeons at private Cromwell Hospital in London used Apple's new Vision Pro headset during an operation, a first for the UK.

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The team at Cromwell Hospital used the new Apple Vision Pro during an operation on a male patient and his spine, navigating the surgery using augmented reality. A scrub nurse used the Apple Vision Pro headset to keep track of the process and choose the right tools.

The AR headset allowed the nurse to see the real-world with virtual screens displaying important information, with Suvi Verho, the lead scrub nurse at London Independent Hospital, told the Daily Mail that Apple's Vision Pro headset was a "gamechanger" and that "It gives you confidence in surgery," adding "It eliminates human error. It eliminates the guesswork".

Syed Aftab led the surgery around two weeks ago, and now two NHS trusts are in discussions with the US company that created the AI software, Exes. The AI software in question keeps notes of every stage of the operation, where medical staff can compare it against similar operations performed by other surgeons.

Aftab said it turned a scrub nurse he had never worked with before into someone with 10 years of experience, praising the AI software. Aftab said that the technology would "superpower" his operating team into something like a Formula One pit crew, where he said: "That's the idea -- that it doesn't matter if you've never been in a pitstop in your life. You just put the headset on".

The Apple Vision Pro headset used during this surgery comes in at good timing, where the chancellor of the exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, said during his recent Budget speech that he wants to modernize the NHS IT system, calling for health services to embrace the world of AI.