U.S.-based NRI doctor successfully performs surgery in Jaipur with help of Google Glass

Orthopedic surgeon Selen G. Parekh used the medium of Google Glass, the tech giant's wearable computer, to perform a successful foot and ankle surgery here on Saturday.

A team of doctors under supervision of U.S.- based Dr. Parekh conducted the foot and ankle surgery wearing Google Glass, which was broadcasted live on Google website via internet.

The surgery was held during a three-day annual Indo-US conference attended by a team of experts from the U.S., and headed by Dr. Ashish Sharma.

Sharma said Google Glass allows looking at an X-Ray or MRI without taking the eye off from the patient, and allows a doctor to communicate with a patient's family or friends during a procedure.

"The image which the doctor sees through Google glass will be broadcasted on the internet. It's an amazing technology. Earlier, during surgeries, to show something to another doctor, we had to keep moving and the cameraman had to move as well to take different angles. During this, there are chances of infection. So, in this technology, the image seen by the doctor using Google glass will be seen by everyone throughout the world," he said.

Doctors said the small devices, which feature a screen that sits just in front of a user's right eye, will revolutionize surgery and would teach procedures to aspiring surgeons without being part of operation team.

The Google glass serves as a great advantage as it is easily accessible through internet and doctors from across the globe could give their input during the live surgery. This could work wonders in rural areas where healthcare is not much accessible.

In September last year, a doctor in southern Chennai city became the first Indian to perform a surgery wearing the Google glass as he live streamed an upper gastro-intestinal laparoscopy procedure on a 45-year-old man to medical students seated two blocks away.

Google Glass has a frame similar to the traditional spectacles but is actually a wearable computer that follows voice commands. It can take photos and videos to show the viewpoint of the user.

The gadget is yet to hit the markets. However, Google had distributed at least 2000 of the glasses for testing before being made available to the common man.