Two surgeons take Google Glass to the operating table

As wearable technology comes closer and closer to the mainstream, medical applications are at the forefront of potential use cases being explored by hardware manufacturers and users alike. While still-rumored smartwatches pique our imaginations, existing tech like Google Glass is already being implemented in the medical industry.

“OK Glass, show me an X-ray.” Surgeons at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital are turning to Glass to summon patient records and more, with the hospital the first to use Google’s wearable during abdominal surgery. Two physicians, Dr. Szotek and Dr. Jeff Browne, each sported Glass during the four-hour procedure, relying on Google’s voice control to access medical information as they sliced out a tumor. Glass was able to show MRI and X-ray information in its “floating” display, just out of the surgeons’ line of sight during the surgery. By using voice commands, neither needed to worry about upsetting the sterile environment of the operating theater, Dr. Szotek points out.