How AI and AR are Changing Medical Proctoring During COVID-19

Medical device specialists often monitor the work of surgeons to provide case support during procedures in the operating room. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, medical proctoring has gone remote.

“COVID has dramatically accelerated the need to have a remote tool, when you either don't have access to the hospital, or when there are travel restrictions that make it really difficult,” said Jennifer Fried, CEO and co-founder of ExplORer Surgical, a company that provides a software platform for case support during surgery. ExplORer offers the training platform in three formats: in-person, remote or hybrid.

Launched out of the University of Chicago Department of Surgery in 2013, ExplORer recently added augmented reality technology that acts as a virtual laser pointer for medical device specialists to provide on-screen guidance for surgeons similarly to how sports announcers use a Telestrator to mark up plays.