The Balearic Islands will develop a pioneering 3D touch simulator to treat colorectal cancer.
With this advancement, doctors will be able to train with real digital models, feeling the resistance of the tissues and the different anatomical textures, as if it were a real procedure.
PalmThe Health Living Lab of the Son Espases University Hospital and the Adema University School have launched a pioneering technological project at the international level which, according to its promoters, marks a milestone in medical-surgical training: it is a haptic (tactile) simulation system)applied to virtual training to treat colorectal cancer so that in the future it can be extrapolated to real interventions in different areas of surgery.
As they explained, colon cancer is one of the types of cancer with the highest prevalence and mortality in the Balearic Islands. Its incidence has increased in recent decades and it is currently the second most common type of cancer in both men and women in the Balearic Islands. It is rare before the age of 50, but becomes more common around 60. It is a tumor that originates from abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells in the colon or rectal area of the large intestine, and it does not usually present symptoms until it is already in a very advanced state.
The coordinator of the Simulation Center and 3D Unit at Son Espases, Dr. Leandro Broggi, stated that "this technology will significantly improve surgical planning, since not only will the organs be seen, but they can also be felt." Until now, all software programs display standard images, as if they were a video game; with this system, the organ is the patient's, with its anatomical characteristics. "This completely changes the way we prepare for an intervention," explains Broggi.
According to Adema's president, Diego González, this innovative technology allows the tactile sensation to be recreated during virtual medical procedures. Therefore, the professional, in addition to seeing and planning a surgery or examination, can "feel" in real time the resistance, texture, and consistency of the tissues they will manipulate. In this sense, he argued that this is Adema's commitment to research for the new degrees in Medicine, Biomedical and Health Engineering, and Biomedicine being developed at the new Coll d'en Rabassa campus.
Laparoscopic colorectal surgery
The first clinical application of this system, after it has been regulated and validated for training, will be laparoscopic colorectal surgery, a key procedure for addressing this type of digestive cancer. From now on, the intervention can be trained with a remarkable degree of realism, which will impact the improvement of therapeutic precision and patient safety. Furthermore, the phases for its subsequent application in other specialties have already been defined.
The objective of both institutions is to create a versatile simulation system customized for each patient that can be applied in various areas of medicine and surgery, focusing on procedures that require high precision and intensive tactile learning.
This advance will represent a qualitative leap in clinical-surgical learning and will reduce complications in real-life interventions, especially in the resection of tumors that are difficult to access.
