Facebook isn’t the only one entering the Metaverse. For the last four years, the CHRISTUS Center of Excellence and Innovation (CHRISTUS CEI) has been a leader in what was once just futurism or science fiction. The group just received worldwide recognition for their success in developing a technology, called Bedside XR, and using it for the benefit of others.

Awarded Use Case of the Year from Microsoft at the Worldwide Annual Hololens Industry Summit, Bedside XR has revolutionized the health care industry. Using Microsoft’s augmented reality lenses, the technology allows the surgeon and surgical team to wear hands-free devices and receive a full field of vision to several important health care data visualization.

Here’s a look at how this platform works and how it is being utilized by physicians in CHRISTUS Muguerza.

CHRISTUS CEI Realidad Aumentada – YouTube

Virtual access to a patient’s medical record, including clinical imaging, helps improve the pre-operative process. There are an array of cameras and sensors equipped into a headset. While in an operation, the physician can choose to share any of the images or records with a colleague via live streaming. That way, other health care professionals in perhaps remote or maybe even hard to get to locations can interact with other surgical team members in real-time. It can be used for consulting and educational purposes as well. 

Besides this most recent Worldwide Microsoft Recognition, this technology and team have received other recognitions. In 2019, they were awarded a CONACYT grant from the Mexican Federal Government to further develop their efforts. In 2020, the State of Nuevo León awarded the annual Tecnos prize for “Startup of the Year” in developing solutions using 4.0 Technologies. The next year, the team was awarded the “Startup of the Year” prize at the Annual Information Technology Industry Award from Hannover Messe and CANIETI (Mexican Chamber of Transformation and Information Technology Industry)

The work began in 2018 when CHRISTUS Center of Excellence and Innovation and Skye Group co-created BedsideXR. The technology has evolved through different hardware platforms, from Magic Leap to Microsoft’s Hololens 2 device. 

In February 2020, the technology made history as the first Augmented Reality assisted surgery in Mexico at CHRISTUS MUGUERZA Hospital Conchita. In 2021, CHRISTUS Muguerza hit other milestones when surgeons used the technology to perform other procedures at CHRISTUS MUGUERZA Hospital UPAEP and CHRISTUS MUGUERZA Hospital Betania. This technology puts CHRISTUS as a frontrunner in the Metaverse. 

Today, several surgeons at CHRISTUS have used this technology, including Dr. Abraham del Real Galindo, a specialist in Sports Medicine and Trauma; Dr. Emmanuel Ruiz Aguilar, a specialist in hand surgery; Dr. Luis Andrés Valverde Galindo, a specialist in Trauma and Orthopedics; Dr. Jorge Mario Lozano, a specialist in Plastic Surgery. 

Currently, Bedside XR is used in hospitals in Mexico, where 10 operations are performed per month. The team is looking forward to seeing the technology usher in a new era in surgical science at many more hospitals throughout Latin America and the USA.