Hamilton, Ont. neurosurgeon Dr. Aleksa Cenic says Vivo Surgery, a multi-view live stream platform, has expanded worldwide over the last four years. It now teaches medical students, residents, fellows and physicians in 30 locations. even war-torn Ukraine.An Ontario doctor says broadcasting a “how to” facial reconstruction procedure to surgeons 8,000 kilometres away in Ukraine epitomizes what he and his partners had in mind when inventing the technology.
The birth of the technology came during a time of need when medical students were banned from operating rooms due to distancing attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.Cenic, also a prof at McMaster University, said the inspiration for Vivo came from a conversation with a med student lamenting how a critical part of her education, witnessing live surgeries, was not being fulfilled.“She’s like, I can’t come and watch surgeries.
“A student once told me she was on VIA Rail going to Montreal and watching one of our surgeries,” according to Cenic.