Hologram patients being used to train new doctors and nurses in pioneering Cambridge project

Trainee medical students could soon be honing their skills on holograms of patients thanks to a new partnership set up between the UK and the US.

Nurses and doctors also seeking to enhance their clinical skills, will be able to use the holographic patients to practice high-level, real-time decision making and treatment choice.

The "mixed reality" technology is thanks to a collaboration between GigXR, an American technology company and Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) and the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education.

“Simulating real-world, real-time medical care requires interactive, responsive patients, training tools and evolving scenarios that conventional methods cannot accurately recreate,” said Dr Arun Gupta, CUH consultant and director of postgraduate education at Cambridge University Health Partners.

“Mixed reality not only allows us to create patient holograms that will have realistic medical responses to interventions, it also merges the latest advancements in hardware devices, software, remote capabilities and expertise, to scale access to cutting-edge medical knowledge and training tools.”

Instructors will be able to share scenarios, change patient responses and record observations and discussions, while projecting the hologram via a mixed reality headset into any physical training environment, whether a classroom, large teaching hospital, or remote learning.

Learners will be able to access, observe and assess the holographic patient simulations from either a mixed reality headset or a smartphone or tablet.