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UW Health Sciences Library: Using virtual reality to support health care
The Translational Research and Information Lab (TRAIL) opened in the University of Washington Health Sciences Library (HSL) in December 2016, transforming existing library space into an innovative and data-driven research environment. Clinical researchers are using it to accelerate innovation in health care using translational methods and the latest technology.
The innovation space has six 55-inch digital panels that form a data wall. Semicircular “campfire”-style seating and sound-dampening floors allow for focused discussions. The vision is to provide a collaborative space where researchers and clinicians can meet to develop ideas, test concepts, and explore possibilities.
A research scientist from the UW Center for Cardiovascular Innovation contacted the TRAIL librarian for permission to test VR on the data wall. Through this successful interaction, a case was made for VR to be used in HSL. A data wall displaying a patient heart, for example, can show a team of health care providers what a cardiovascular surgeon will see in the operating room.
For decades, surgeons relied on two-dimensional MRI and CT representations of the heart they would be operating on hours later. This project added a third dimension—depth—by transferring those MRI and CT slices into a detailed, immersive, and patient-specific VR model. The VR models then serve as a foundation for pre-surgical consultations, allowing the surgical team to explore the patient’s anatomy collaboratively, and letting UW health care providers and librarians to reimagine the future of case conference presentations.
Soon, a partnership came about to assess how sophisticated VR techniques could revolutionize pre-surgical cardiovascular consultations and inspire other libraries to design high-tech spaces.
Initial artist rendering for implementing VR into UW HSL’s TRAIL.
Seated (from left): Adam Garrett; Emily Patridge, MLIS; Gili Meerovitch; Tania Bardyn, MLIS; Beth Ripley, MD; Dmitry Levin; Ryan James; Edward Verrier, MD.
Standing (from left): Mary Kay Voss; Deric Ruhl; Michael Moore, MISt; Chris Burke, MD; Francisco Gensini, MD; Kevin Koomalsingh, MD; Mark Reisman, MD; Nicole Walker, RN; Aaron Daub, MD; Margrethe Søvik, Kara McDonald, Sandeep Napa, Hendeke Araya.
(Photo by Jane Koh)