June 2010

How virtual reality is changing veterinary medicine

In a small, windowless room, four veterinarians simultaneously tie sutures, biopsy a liver, and perform minimally invasive abdominal surgery. No, this is not a typical operating room. It is a veterinary laparoscopic training laboratory—the first of its kind in the nation.

Dr. Boel Fransson, WSU small animal surgeon and VALT lab director and Dr. Courtney Watkins, WSU small animal surgery resident, work on the virtual reality trainer.