When I was a kid in the 1980s my newly remodeled grade school touted a high-tech classroom, which included an Apple IIe computer. In addition to Oregon Trail and Turbo Pascal, we had a game called “Operation: Frog.” For those of you who were not alive—or just can’t remember that long ago—Operation: Frog was a frog dissection simulation created by Scholastic.

The game used 8 bit graphics, which could produce 16 colors. I can still remember the 5 ½ inch floppy disks the game ran on. The graphics and interface were — as expected — terrible by today’s standards. Indeed, the game did nothing to prepare students for the actual frog dissection we all were eventually required to perform later in junior high school.

Flash-forward to 2016, and cutting edge technology is allowing doctors to perform virtual surgery using real MRI and CT imaging. This is a far cry from “Operation: Frog” virtual dissection I performed in my youth. Indeed, recent advancements in the accessibility of this immersive technology have led to its increasing adoption by healthcare providers. The combination of advancements in medical imaging procedures, gaming technology, and virtual reality, is fundamentally changing the way surgeons are able to prepare for and accomplish surgical procedures.

Developments in image quality, such as ultra-high definition displays, and video gaming software, have paved the way for the election of virtual reality utilization within hospitals. Notably, Hoag Hospital and the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, have integrated Surgical Theater Surgical Planner (SRP) to their neurological surgery approach.

This new technology works by translating CT and MRI scans into interactive three-dimensional models with life-like tissues that can react to virtual surgery tools. Since the simulation is based on actual medical images of the patient undergoing surgery, surgeons can virtually perform the procedure and plan ahead to avoid issues that were previously unforeseeable.

In addition, computer simulations should help doctors avoid committing medical malpractice, by allowing them to practice on digital patients. This technology has the same potential to increase the safety of surgery the same way flight simulations have increased the safety of air travel.

However, like all new technology, virtual surgery is expensive. The Surgical Theater System Planner’s price point is currently upwards of a half a million dollars. Accordingly, while surgery simulators have the potential to save money over time due to the services they provide, the initial cost will continue deter many smaller institutions from acquiring this new technology.

While virtual surgery is not currently the standard of care, but perhaps if the cost falls and studies show a real impact on patient safety, it will be.