Vuzix says the Ohana One virtual Surgical Sight program is utilizing its smart glasses in 35 countries

Vuzix Corporation (NASDAQ:VUZI), a supplier of smart glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technology, in collaboration with surgical training nonprofit Ohana One, has said the virtual Surgical Sight Smart Glasses program for the NGO community is now live in 35 countries.

The Surgical Sight program, which was formally launched in October 2020 by Ohana One, utilizes Vuzix Smart Glasses and Help Lightning software to connect surgical mentors with surgeons in developing areas around the globe to boost training in surgery.

“We are very pleased to work together with Ohana One and their growing list of participating surgical teams around the globe to support their virtual Surgical Sight smart glasses program in their mission to connect 1,000 mentor/mentee pairs,” said Vuzix CEO Paul Travers in a statement.

READ: Vuzix CEO Paul Travers touts the company’s impressive product lineup in letter to shareholders

As of June 2021, 835 calls have been placed over Vuzix Smart Glasses which were used to connect more than 100 surgeons across five specialty areas including neurosurgeons, general and colorectal surgeons, adult and pediatric orthopedic surgeons, and plastic and reconstructive surgeons.

“The first cohort consisted of 50 surgical teams consisting of mentor and mentee pairs that spanned across five continents and 35 developing countries,” said the company. The goal is to have the program grow to 1,000 mentor/mentee pairs, it added.

The surgical mentee can share his or her surgical field directly with the mentor, and the mentor sees what the mentee is seeing live in real-time using the specialized Help Lightning smart glasses software. The technology can take pictures of the live feed, record videos, freeze the image and subsequently write on top of the captured image, and mentors can use their hands to point out areas that need special attention or direction, all as if the mentor was directly operating with the mentee.

“This enhances the training relationship between the mentor and mentee, helping the mentee to further develop their surgical skills,” said the company. The smart glasses and software create an environment where the mentor can be available live during the surgery, preoperative planning, and post-operative monitoring. 

“The Vuzix Smart Glasses are becoming an important channel for communication. We can receive help from our mentors remotely. The glasses work like a smart camera with video call and virtual reality that are suitable in the operating room,” said Dr Can from InterSurgeon, an Ohana One partner, in Vietnam. “We really like using these devices to improve the quality of our global surgical programs.”

Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at [email protected]

Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive

Story by ProactiveInvestors