This idea, outlined in an article in Wired, is something whose time has come:
Stanford bioengineer Charles Taylor has worked for about a decade to bring more predictability into surgery. He and his collaborators have amassed medical data including MRIs and CT scans, and combined them with algorithms the team has worked out to predict blood flow, the flexibility of veins and arteries, among other parameters. His goal is to develop a simple software tool that allows surgeons to practice each individual operation before touching scalpel to skin.
"It's the ultimate video game," said Dr. Jeffrey Feinstein, a pediatric cardiologist at Stanford who is helping Taylor develop the technology. "You sit down and make a change and you see the results in real time. You can try a few things without actually having to try them on the patient."
What a fantastic idea, if they can pull it off!
