It’s a new first in surgical history. Earlier this month, a London-based surgeon live-streamed a hernia repair on Snapchat, using the company’s recently released “Spectacles” glasses.
The Spectacles glasses are equipped with cameras so that users can easily record video from their own perspective. So far, Snapchat, a social media app where users can share short videos, has only released a limited number of the $130 smart glasses.
But, this surgeon — Dr. Shafi Ahmed — is already showing the potential of the technology.
As many as 200 students reportedly tuned in to watch Ahmed perform the operation, and four minutes of the video is now available on YouTube.
Shafi Ahmed wears the Snapchat Spectacles. (Image credit: Chris Rogers/BMI Hospitals)
Ahmed told Time that he likes how the 10-second limit on video clips forced him to rethink the way the information was presented and allowed him to remove “all of the boring bits of the operation that may not have educational value.”
“It’s like you’re presenting a recipe,” he said. “You’re training people in a structured way.”
Ahmed also made headlines earlier this year when he set up a 360-degree camera to record a surgery where he removed a tumor from a patient’s colon.
Ahmed says he hopes to continue using Snapchat Spectacles as a training tool for students.
