Global NewsSurgeons Use Virtual Reality To Separate Conjoined Twins

Surgeons Use Virtual Reality To Separate Conjoined Twins

-

- Advertisment -spot_img
JUMIA GLOBAL

Brazilian and previously conjoined twin brothers Arthur and Bernardo Lima were welcome with an emotional outpouring of applause, cheers and tears from medical staff and family members after successfully going through multiple surgeries.

Surgeons Use Virtual Reality To Separate Conjoined Twins

The boys lay separated, for the first time, face-to-face and holding hands in a shared hospital bed in Rio de Janeiro, after doctors there and almost 6,000 miles away in London worked together using virtual reality techniques to operate on the conjoined 3-year-olds.

JUMIA GLOBAL

The highly complex medical procedure separated the twins, who come from Roraima in rural northern Brazil and were born craniopagus, meaning they were connected to each other with fused skulls, intertwined brains and sharing vital veins in the brain. Only 1 in 60,000 births result in conjoined twins, and even fewer are joined cranially.

Medical experts had called the surgery to separate the brothers impossible.

But medical staff from the Rio’s Instituto Estadual do Cérebro Paulo Niemeyer worked with London-based surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani of Great Ormond Street Hospital to use advanced virtual reality technology to rehearse the painstaking procedure.

Read AlsoBoko Haram Forced The Ban Of Farmers Using Fertilisers – Zulum

It involved detailed imaging of the boys’ brains including CT and MRI scans, as well as checks on the rest of their bodies. Health workers, engineers and others collated data to create 3D and virtual reality models of the twins’ brains to allow the teams to study their anatomy in greater detail.

The international teams then spent months working to prepare for the procedures, according to the British charity Gemini Untwined, which facilitated the surgery and was founded by Jeelani, a renowned British-Kashmiri neurosurgeon.

The surgical teams conducted a cross-continental “trial surgery” using virtual reality, the first time such technology had been used for this purpose in Brazil, according to the charity. They went on to perform seven surgeries to fully separate the twins, involving hours of operating time and nearly 100 medical staff.

Read AlsoOffa Grammar School Student Commits Suicide

“The separation was the most challenging to date,” Gemini Untwined said in a statement Monday. “At almost four years old, Arthur and Bernardo were also the oldest craniopagus twins with a fused brain to be separated, bringing added complications.” The optimal age for separation is between 6 and 12 months old, it said.

Although the successful surgery took place in June, the teams of doctors held off publicizing it so they could focus on the boys’ recovery, Francesca Eaton, a spokeswoman for Great Ormond Street Hospital, said Wednesday.

Craniopagus conjoined children have typically never sat up, crawled or walked before and require intensive rehabilitation post-surgery. Arthur and Bernardo will undergo six months of rehabilitation at the hospital and look forward to celebrating their fourth birthday together soon, Gemini Untwined said, “finally able to see each other face to face,” alongside their parents Adriely and Antonio Lima.

Jeelani, a specialist in separating craniopagus twins, called it a “remarkable achievement.”

Connect Newswebbs on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

newswebbs
newswebbshttps://newswebbs.com
New Webbs is an independent online news platform launched with the aim of connecting the world with the latest news on the web.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest news

European Flying Car Tech Soars To China In Surprise Deal

A Chinese firm has acquired the technology behind a flying car, initially developed and successfully test-flown in Europe. Hebei Jianxin...

Super Eagles Suffer 2-0 Defeat Against Tactical Mali

Nigeria's Super Eagles endured a 2-0 loss against Mali's Les Aigles in their second international friendly match on Tuesday...

Mom, Others Applaud Death Sentence Issued To Chinese Who Killed Lover

Kano, Nigeria - Hajiya Fatima Zubairu, mother of Ummulkhulsum Buhari, killed by her Chinese boyfriend Frank Geng Quarong, commends...

Nigerian Military Demands Capture Of Killers As Slain Soldiers Buried

FCT, Nigeria - The Nigerian Army has announced that the soldiers who lost their lives in the Okuama community...
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

Google, Meta, Apple To Be scrutinized By The EU

Some biggest and famous tech firms in the world are to be investigated over uncompetitive practices, the European Union...

US-based Kenyan Activist Wins Humanitarian Award

NAIROBI, KENYA - A US-based human rights activist, Ms Margaret Ruto who fronted the arrest of an American Christian...

Must read

Origin Tech Group Partners Niger State Government, Signs Agreement

Origin Tech Group, a knowledge-based and practical solution-driven leader...

South Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, Other Embassies Owing $5.3M Ground Rents In Abuja

Abuja, Nigeria - Foreign embassies and high commissions owed...
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you