By Brad Henry
Medical procedures and Google GLASS are a hot topic. The medical community is exploring opportunities where GLASS may be of use. The Wexner Medical Center recently used GLASS to broadcast a surgical procedure to medical students via a Google Hangout. Medical training is not for everyone: the event was covered by the CBS This Morning television program and one of their staff passed out in the operating room.
It did not come as a surprise when Dr. Phillip Lerche, a veterinary anesthesiologist and assistant professor from the College of Veterinary Medicine, approached me about testing GLASS to capture an anesthetic procedure. Dr. Lerche explained that the objective of the project was to capture video of a commonly used anesthetic procedure to assist student learning. The procedure, which is commonly performed by veterinary students in their clinical training, does not have a video that effectively captures the steps required to successfully perform tracheal intubation (placing a tube in the windpipe so that anesthetic gases and oxygen can be delivered) from the student anesthetist’s point of view.
To prepare Dr. Lerche I trained him how to effectively capture video using GLASS. The common mistake when recording video with GLASS is assuming that the images being captured through GLASS are in your line of site. This is attributed to the placement of GLASS near the eye and the assumption that if you are viewing an object that GLASS is recording what your are visualizing. This is not the case. When recording with GLASS, your head naturally tends to focus lower thus capturing images below the expected line of site. This is very similar to older cameras when capturing images and capturing the torso and not the image of the head.
For the procedure we had the opportunity to work with two patients, a cat and a dog. I was in the room using a mobile device to monitor the recording to help guide the view. The first attempt with a cat was decent, however, the small size of the animal and the line of site proved a bit tricky. We reviewed the procedure on video with Dr. Lerche. This gave him the information he needed on how to align the camera with the patient. For the next patient recording we used a dog. The dog provided a larger target to capture information. The experience with the first patient also provided Dr. Lerche with enough information on line of site and increased the interaction between me and Dr. Lerche on the video.
After the procedure was completed we reviewed the captured video and were very excited with the results. The clarity, as well as the stability, of the video was extraordinary. We were successfully able to capture a video that will be used in the future for training. This example of an effective use of GLASS in a veterinary medical center is the beginning of many capabilities that will emerge when Google makes the GLASS Development Kit available. The good news is we are already working on those solutions.
Click to view the video – http://youtu.be/t_UIvtR4dEo