JUDY WOODRUFF: And speaking of science, our
next story explores ways virtual reality can
help advance medicine.
Cat Wise reports for our Breakthroughs series
on the Leading Edge.
CAT WISE: A quiet journey through a scenic
woodlands, a dangerous leap between two buildings,
a tour of the International Space Station,
lifelike experiences made possible these days
through the lenses of virtual reality headsets.
The technology now used to battle evil was
first used more than 20 years ago to help
patients overcome phobias.
Since then, virtual reality use in the medical
field has come a long way.
NARRATOR: Also, V.R. allows you to practice
modern surgical techniques any time, anywhere.
CAT WISE: A growing number of medical schools
are using V.R. to help students practice operating
room skills, to engage in realistic patient
interactions, and to learn the intricacies
of the human body.
Some hospitals are now using V.R. to counsel
patients about complex interventions and to
help reduce stress and pain during difficult
procedures.
Here in Oakland, California, the UCSF Benioff
Children's Hospital is among the first in
the country to take pediatric patients and
their families on a virtual reality tour of
their own brain.
MAN: Straight down to it.
And, actually, did you want to grab it?
CAT WISE: Roughly three dozen patients, ages
6 to 18, have taken the virtual tour prior
to having surgery for cancer, epilepsy and
several other disorders.
The technology, which generates a virtual
model of a patient's own anatomy from C.T.
and MRI scans was developed by a startup called
Surgical Theater.
MAN: Mom and dad see me?
We're going all the way inside Jade's brain.
CAT WISE: The family's tour guide is also
their neurosurgeon, Dr. Kurtis Auguste.
DR.
KURTIS AUGUSTE, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital:
I tell people all the time, as I'm preparing
for surgery scrolling through MRIs, if only
I could shrink myself down to this small,
and insert myself into this space, and just
take a look around.
And that's effectively what you can do with
this technology.
CAT WISE: Dr. Auguste has been performing
brain surgeries on children for more than
a decade.
He's often had to convey complex information
using plastic brain models, 2-D images, and
even paper and pen.
DR.
KURTIS AUGUSTE: And then I have the same conversation
using V.R., it's just like the clouds part,
and they have this epiphany, like, oh, that's
what you were talking about.
It still kind of gives me goose bumps, because
these kids, they just really engage with it.
CAT WISE: The virtual worlds of video games
are a welcome distraction for Jake Levin,
a 15-year-old from Reno, Nevada, who often
has more serious matters on his mind.
Jake has epilepsy.
He's been having almost daily seizures, like
the one in this home video, since middle school.
Recently they have prevented him from playing
his favorite sport, basketball, competitively.
But Jake and his parents finally have some
hope, an upcoming surgery to remove a small
area of his brain causing the seizures.
Before then, they were anticipating their
first virtual reality experience.
NATHANIE CLANCY, Mother: When Dr. Auguste
mentioned it to us, I just thought that was
so cool.
As strange as it sounds, I want to see the
piece of tissue that's caused all these problems.
JAKE LEVIN, Patient: I had one buddy who kept
texting me, saying, have you flown through
your brain yet, have your flown through your
brain yet?
CAT WISE: That day finally arrived.
DR.
KURTIS AUGUSTE: Hello.
How are you guys doing?
Nice to see you.
Welcome, welcome, welcome.
CAT WISE: Dr. Auguste began the session by
showing the family a rendering of Jake's head
with electrodes that were implanted several
weeks before to determine where his seizure
activity was occurring.
DR.
KURTIS AUGUSTE: You can see how we strategically
place all these electrodes.
CAT WISE: Then it was time to go inside.
DR.
KURTIS AUGUSTE: You guys think you want to
fly for a little bit?
Everybody strapped in here?
Keep your arms and hands inside the ride at
all times.
(LAUGHTER)
CAT WISE: After orienting the family in the
new space...
DR.
KURTIS AUGUSTE: OK, good.
Now, stop for a second, mom.
Look over your right shoulder.
NATHANIE CLANCY: Oh, yes.
DR.
KURTIS AUGUSTE: OK, good.
And then, Jake and dad, do you see mom and
me?
All right, good.
So, here we are.
CAT WISE: Dr. Auguste led them to the trouble
spot.
DR.
KURTIS AUGUSTE: All these electrodes here,
these turquoise little dots, quiet, quiet,
quiet, quiet, until we get to here, until
we get to electrode number three.
And this is the source of your epilepsy.
CAT WISE: The red, orange, and yellow dots
represent the electrical activity causing
Jake's seizures.
DR.
KURTIS AUGUSTE: The good news here is that
this is very, very safe -- it's actually the
preferential place to be for brain surgery.
CAT WISE: While still exploring, I asked mom
and dad what the experience was like.
MATT LEVIN, Father: It provides a visceral
experience compared to looking at 2-D models.
It's just incredible.
It's just amazing.
NATHANIE CLANCY: I was excited about it, but
this was like 10 times better.
CAT WISE: As for Jake?
JAKE LEVIN: It's so much cooler than a video
game.
I'm feeling much more confident than I thought
I would.
CAT WISE: But virtual reality does have its
skeptics.
MARISA BRANDT, Michigan State University:
Right now, virtual reality has a lot of hype
behind it.
CAT WISE: Michigan State University's Marisa
Brandt has been studying virtual reality trends
for the past decade.
MARISA BRANDT: I think that there's a lot
of potential benefit, but we don't want to
be premature about it solving a lot of problems.
If we want this to be a caring technology,
we really have to make sure that it's something
that's for and helps connect people, not something
that's used to disengage.
CAT WISE: Dr. Auguste agrees.
He's been consulting, for free, for now, with
the company that designed the technology.
But he says his patients are his first priority.
DR.
KURTIS AUGUSTE: First and foremost, I'm a
surgeon.
I am the advocate of this child.
I'm not an advocate of this technology.
Those of us on the front lines, the innovators,
the ones who are introducing this technology,
have the most responsibility to hold on to
the things that make us human beings.
The face-to-face contact and being able to
read someone's physical cues, are they comfortable,
are they not, that's so important.
CAT WISE: Just days after his brain tour,
Jake's surgery went smoothly.
He's recovering now and hoping to be seizure-free
and back on the basketball court by next season.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Cat Wise in Oakland,
California.
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Jake, we wish you well.
