Technology Record - Issue 22: Autumn 2021

176 www. t e c h n o l o g y r e c o r d . c om “Training is so fundamental to employee empowerment and performance,” says Senner. “With holographic guided instructions people can train faster and retain information more effectively than with 2D manuals. Healthcare organisations can also use holographic equip- ment so that users can train anywhere without taking physical equipment out of production and causing unnecessary downtime.” For example, medicine and medical device manufacturer Novartis uses Taqtile’s Manifest augmented reality platform to develop train- ing and administer certification for anaesthesia machines. Trainees are guided through instruc- tion by job templates which feature 3D ink or shapes overlaid onto equipment to highlight an area of interest or concern. Manifest allows evi- dence to be captured during the execution of a task for auditing and certification. The design, manufacturing and maintenance of medical equipment can also be improved with mixed reality. “Imagine converting computer-aided design files to 3D digital twins to see a holographic ver- sion of a medical technology device to evaluate different variants of the design in minutes, collab- orating in person and remotely,” says Senner. This is precisely what Stryker did. The medical technology firm integrated HoloLens into the design process of its operating rooms. “Different surgical disciplines use shared oper- ating rooms, but these specialities have widely different needs in terms of configuration and set-up,” says Senner. “Equipment placement is critical as it effects ergonomics, efficiency and task load, all of which have the potential to bur- den staff and slow procedures.” Using HoloLens, Stryker enabled a team of sur- geons to collaborate and work with holograms in the physical operating room. This reduced the design time and errors, and shortened sales cycles of its operating rooms by enabling cus- tomers to interact with the product in 3D and understand its value. But Microsoft is not resting on its laurels with the success of HoloLens and HoloLens 2. “We are investing heavily in cloud services to make it eas- ier to develop collaborative and immersive mixed reality experiences,” says Senner. “We want to help our partners continue building industry-leading solutions and make it as easy possible for custom- ers to use mixed reality to improve daily opera- tions and patient experiences.” F E ATUR E : M I C ROSOF T HOLOL ENS We asked a selection of Microsoft partners how they are building on the HoloLens platform to help healthcare providers develop innovative solutions that empower employees to deliver better patient experiences Partner perspectives “apoQlar is the developer of a medical mixed reality platform that is revolutionising how medicine is practiced, experienced, learned and shared globally. VSI HoloMedicine is a medically certified cloud-based platform that leverages the Microsoft HoloLens 2 hardware to transform medical images, clinical workflows and medical education into an interactive 3D mixed reality environment. Our solution is agnostic with respect to the medical field, entirely independent from other physical hardware and supports the entire surgical episode of care as opposed to just one narrow surgical procedure. Our customers across 13 different medical fields use our platform to collaborate with other physicians globally as virtual avatars, conduct surgical planning in 3D, engage patients and educate the doctors of tomorrow in medical academia. All of this is just the beginning however. VSI HoloMedicine is building a suite of next-generation medical applications that serves to be the foundational platform for mixed reality-based medicine.” Sirko Pelzl CEO and Founder of apoQlar