Holograms to train the NHS doctors and nurses of tomorrow

Holographic patients are being used to train medical students in Cambridge in a world first.

The students at Addenbrooke’s Hospital are using a new mixed-reality training system called “HoloScenarios”, which enables teaching and learning with life-like holograms and are accessible from anywhere in the world.

The technology is being developed by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), the University of Cambridge and GigXR, a Los Angeles-based tech company.

The developers said that it could provide more flexible, cost-effective training than traditional simulation, which requires more resources and expense for maintaining labs and hiring patient actors.

Wearing mixed reality headsets, the students are not only able to see each other but are also interacting with a multi-layered, medically accurate holographic patient, the developers said.

Students will take several modules using the technology, the first of which focuses on respiratory conditions and emergencies.

This involves a holographic patient with asthma, followed by anaphylaxis, pulmonary embolism and pneumonia.

Other modules in cardiology and neurology are in development.

Prof Sir Stephen Powis, the national medical director for NHS England, said that the development will “enhance” the learning of the next generation of doctors.

He said: “The NHS has always been at the forefront of medical innovation, and this unique development by teams in Cambridge – to use life-like holographic patients in medical training – could enhance the learning experience of our next generation of doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, by creating new environments to practice medicine in real time, while improving access to training worldwide.”

Dr Arun Gupta, a consultant anaesthetist at CUH who is leading the project, said: “Mixed reality is increasingly recognised as a useful method of simulator training.

“As institutions scale procurement, the demand for platforms that offer utility and ease of mixed reality learning management is rapidly expanding.”

‘Empowering instructors’

The software has already allowed instructors to better prepare students, Dr Gupta added.

“With HoloScenarios, we’re helping to evolve education from a mentorship-based model to one where students around the world can have equal access to top-flight expertise for mastering invention-based clinical skills,” he said.

David King Lassman, the founder of GigXR, said: “Empowering instructors with 360-degree preparation for clinical practice represents a milestone for GigXR that allows us to provide our customers with a library of applications that offers solutions for students from their first courses to continuing education.

“Our first HoloScenarios module represents a new and incredibly powerful way to use mixed reality for healthcare training, to be followed up by many more modules and new applications delivered soon.”