NASA 'software scalpel' helps doctors practice operations

  • 12/10/1998

A '"software scalpel" combined with clear, accurate, three dimensional images of the human head, is helping doctors practice reconstructive surgery and visualize the outcome more accurately. Using the new approach, a physician wearing 3-D glasses can see an image of a patient's head from all angles on a computer monitor, or on the surface of a large "immersive virtual reality work bench." Virtual reality is a computer-created environment that simulates real-life situations.