In the first case of its kind, a Chinese surgeon used a Google Glass device to broadcast orthopedic surgery live, with the procedure watched by foreign colleagues in Asia and Europe on mobile phones and tablets, reports said Thursday.

The surgery was performed by an orthopedic surgeon at a Chinese hospital known for its skills in reattachment of severed limbs — who live-cast the operation with the Google Glass’s 500-megapixel camera.

But this may be just the beginning, reports said, as the facility, Shanghai 6th People’s Hospital, is in talks with app developers to further explore the possibility of on-site man-machine interactions.

One possibility, a hospital official was quoted as saying, would involve doctors performing surgery based on 3-D images displayed in the Google Glass.

– This story was published in the New York Daily News.