South West Acute Hospital is at the forefront of medical innovation and teaching thanks to new Smart Glasses developed by one of its doctors.

The Smart Glasses are understood to be a European first and give medical students a bird's eye view of an operating field on a live stream as part of their medical education. The pilot took place at SWAH and received positive feedback.

Dr. Grace Kettyle and other doctors attending the European Association of Endoscopic Surgery Conference in Rome pitched the Smart Glasses for €10,000 worth of funding as a research pilot last year.

Dr. Kettyle explained: “The pilot study involved the use of Smart Glasses technology designed by a company called Rods and Cones which we have trialled here in the theatres of the South-West Acute Hospital for enhancing medical education.”

She explained that due to some challenges and problems around the world, SWAH was later chosen as the hospital to pilot the Smart Glasses.

One of those using the glasses to educate student is Consultant Surgeon, Mr Michael Mullan who believes technology such as this will encourage medical students to go down the surgery path.

“Normally in theatres we can accommodate one or two students, but being able to broadcast to a separate group, then it's unlimited the number of students that you have.

“This is a way of us maximising our students' exposure to the operations. I wear a headset, I can have two-way communication with the students so we can talk to each other.

“Surgery is struggling to recruit and it is important that medical students have a good exposure to surgery,” explained Mr. Mullan.

Professor Monica Monaghan, Consultant Cardiologist and Divisional Clinical Director praised the pilot and its role in educating medical students.

“We do plan to write this up for the medical surgical literature and put it out there in a peer-reviewed journal and that again puts SWAH at the forefront of medical education, training and puts us on the map and increases our chances of recruiting and retaining.”

She added a thanks to patients who consented to being part of the pilot.

Dr. Kettyle hopes that the glasses will attract others to surgery as a career and to SWAH and praised how a smaller hospital gave her more opportunities to operate: “My love of surgery was born here”

“I brought the idea to the table because it was something that I felt very strongly about. There is always competition to get scrubbed in theatre like as a junior trainee.”

“I know the days the students were here, there was a real buzz and when they left to do their exams on their final day, they were still talking about the glasses.”

She praised the operating skills of Mr. Mullan and others as well as the work of theatre staff for embracing the pilot.

Professor Monaghan concurred that SWAH is “privileged to have some of the best doctors” and praised the “calibre of the many people working in this hospital”.

Dr. Kettyle’s work received exemplary feedback from the medical students and she was awarded an ‘Excellence in Innovation’ award at the Medical Education and Training Awards Ceremony where she was also the keynote speaker recently and explained how the glasses are used at SWAH.