Paediatric heart surgeons are trading traditional imaging for virtual reality goggles to better understand their patients’ anatomy ahead of complex surgeries.

A collaboration between Curtin University’s Hub for Immersive Visualisation and eResearch (HIVE) and Perth Children’s Hospital, Minerva is an innovative tool set to enhance the work of surgeons and radiologists treating children with congenital heart disease.

Congenital heart disease is a broad term for more than a dozen different abnormalities of the heart, heart valves or major blood vessels which are present at birth.

Between 2400 and 3000 Australian babies are born with CHD every year, making it the most common congenital disorder in newborns. Each form can vary in complexity, and can often co-occur.

“One of the challenges fo

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