Help Lightning

Remote expertise through the power of merged reality

Access to this ground-breaking technology is included at no cost with an InterSurgeon clinician membership. Help Lightning allows experienced surgeons to guide and interactively assist others during operations in real-time, anywhere in the world.

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What are the benefits of Help Lightning for surgeons?

In light of the pandemic, and for the foreseeable future, the conventional ways of establishing collaborative partnerships through physical visits are not going to be possible. However, because Help Lightning allows surgeons to collaborate remotely, partnerships can still develop – and more easily than ever before. Help Lightning can be used as a tool for education, mentorship and instruction – as well as for intraoperative case management. It allows both surgical planning and real-time intraoperative advice.

How does it work?

Watch this video to learn how Help Lightning works. This shows use cases in other industries – it’s every bit as useful with surgical applications and can also be used hands-free. All you need to use Help Lightning is your smartphone and an internet connection, though it can also be used with tablets, desktop computers and smart surgical glasses.

Download a beginner’s guide to Help Lightning here: Help Lightning Basic Training

Virtual help in real-time

Help Lightning uses Merged Reality to blend two real-time video streams – e.g. that of a remote surgical expert and another surgeon that needs help – into a collaborative environment. This Merged Reality allows the expert to virtually reach out and direct real surgical procedures or training.

Help Lightning

Use your existing devices

Help Lightning runs on your existing mobile devices (iOS, Android) or a web-browser on laptop and desktop computers.

Surgeons can now provide remote assistance as though they’re working side-by-side. They can telestrate, freeze images, use hand gestures, and even add real objects into the merged reality environment.

Help Lightning Software

Be there instantly

Help Lightning is easy, fast and intuitive.

Once you’re in a merged reality call with a colleague or customer, simply tap the mode to change how you interact. Choose whether you’re giving or receiving help, and start collaborating in seconds. Help Lightning’s unique Merged Reality can add missing visual cues, gestures, and non-verbal communication methods to any session.

Help Lightning
Help Lightning

Using Help Lightning with smart surgical glasses

Take Help Lightning to the next level by pairing it with smart glasses. This innovation allows the wearer to benefit from the assistance of AI or a third-party while performing surgery. When used in conjunction with Help Lightning, smart glasses mean that another surgeon can see exactly what you are seeing and what you’re doing – and also have their hands superimposed over your field of view.

There are a number of models available from different manufacturers including VUZIX, Zebra, and RealWear.

The Advantage of Remote Expertise

Studies show that adding gestures and nonverbal clues substantially improves the speed of understanding. Furthermore, nonverbal cues are 430% more effective than verbal cues and nonverbal cues make Help Lightning’s combination of verbal and nonverbal communication up to 10 times more effective.

Sources: Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, British Journal of Clinical Psychology

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Richard Edwards, MD

Richard Edwards, MD

Neurosurgeon

Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, United Kingdom

User

Location information

Hospital address

Bristol Royal Hospital for Children Dept Of Neurosurgery Bristol Royal Hospital for Children Upper Maudlin Street Bristol UK BS2 8BJ United Kingdom

Hospital type

Public

Hospital description

Pediatric

Description

Richard Edwards graduated from Imperial College, London University in 1994. His early Neurosurgical training was under Alan Crockard and Michael Powell at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London. He undertook one year of training at Atkinson Morley's Hospital, London which included training in Paediatric Neurosurgery under Mr Henry Marsh before going on to complete his Neurosurgical training at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol (1999-2005). He then undertook a one year clinical fellowship in Paediatric Neurosurgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, gaining valuable specialist experience in this international centre of excellence. He was appointed as a Consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeon at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol in 2005 and moved to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children when the Paediatric Neurosurgery service transferred there in 2014. He is a fellow by examination of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a member of the International Society of Paediatric Neurosurgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (USA) the International Society for Hydrocephalus and CSF Disorders and the Society of British Neurological Surgeons. He Is an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Bristol.

Clinical Expertise:

Brain Tumours. Mr Edwards has a major interest in paediatric brain and spinal cord tumour surgery, in particular brain tumours in the pineal region, ependymoma, spinal cord tumours and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). He has lectured internationally on surgical management of these tumours including the development and use of intra-operative brain monitoring techniques to improve the safety of tumour removal.

Cerebrospinal Fluid Disorders. Mr Edwards has a major clinical interest in surgery for hydrocephalus and other CSF disorders. He lectures internationally in this field and runs courses in both Europe and Asia to train neurosurgeons in the management of complex hydrocephalus. In 2014 he was the Congress President hosting the International Society of Hydrocephalus and CSF Disorders annual meeting, which included a special symposium with NASA scientists discussing CSF disorders associated with prolonged space flight. He was the first neurosurgeon in the UK to use robot-assisted neuroendoscopy (keyhole surgery) to treat hydrocephalus and has extensive experience in both shunt surgery for hydrocephalus and neuroendoscopy, including a technique known as endoscopic choroid plexus coagulation (CPC) for the treatment of communicating hydrocephalus in infants and children.

Spasticity Surgery. In 2011 Bristol pioneered the development of the technique of Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) for the treatment of diplegic cerebral palsy and currently has the UK's largest experience of this procedure. The surgical team is led jointly by Mr Edwards and Mr Pople. Mr Edwards has lectured Internationally on the subject of SDR , one of his SDR patients was recently featured in the ITV programme "What Would Be Your Miracle?". The team also manages the implantation of intrathecal baclofen pumps for the treatment of quadriplegic cerebral palsy and the implantation of deep brain stimulators for the treatment of dystonia.

Paediatric Vascular Neurosurgery. Mr Edwards is the Neurosurgical lead clinician for the Paediatric Neurovascular Multidisciplinary team, with an interest in the surgical treatment of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and Moya Moya disease.

Complex Spinal Surgery. Mr Edwards has an interest in the surgical treatment of cervical (neck) deformity in children and runs a monthly complex paediatric spinal clinic with Mr John Hutchinson evaluating children with complex spinal problems requiring a multidisciplinary approach.

Research Expertise:

Head Injury. Mr Edwards is currently the local Principle investigator for the Approaches and Decisions in Acute Pediatric TBI (ADAPT) Study, a USA based study funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH). He was the Paediatric Neurosurgical advisor to a research team run by the Healthcare Quality improvement Partnership (HQIP) evaluating outcomes of head injury in Children in the United Kingdom. He has a research interest in the clinical identification of abusive head injury in children.

Hydrocephalus. Mr Edwards has published extensively in the field of hydrocephalus. In 2010 he completed a doctorate thesis on the use of endoscopic Choroid Plexus Coagulation (CPC) to treat hydrocephalus. He continues to have an active interest in hydrocephalus research and is currently the local Principle Investigator to the BASICs Clinical Trial funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). He is currently researching into the use of robotics to enhance the safety and accuracy of treatment of hydrocephalus. He is the author of the chapter on "CSF Devices" in Youman's Neurological Surgery, the definitive textbook in the field of Neurosurgery. He has recently been appointed as Deputy Chairman of the CSF disorders section of the Society of British Neurological Surgeons. In 2015 he was appointed Editor for the Hydrocephalus & CSF disorders section of the journal "World Neurosurgery" one of the leading academic journals in the field.

Brain Tumours. In addition to his role in the robotic Convection Enhanced Drug delivery research program, Mr Edwards is also currently working with neurophysiologists at Bristol University to develop advanced intra-operative neurophysiological monitoring techniques to reduce the risk of post-operative cerebellar mutism and other neurological problems following surgery for brainstem and cerebellar tumours.

Other Interests:
Mr Edwards is the current Chairman of the British Paediatric Neurosurgery Group.

Education. Mr Edwards is the Regional Training Program director for Neurosurgery for the Severn and Peninsular Deaneries, responsible for delivery of surgical training in the South West UK. He is a member of the Intercollegiate Examination Board in Neurosurgery (2007-present). He is the author of the textbook "Rapid Neurology & Neurosurgery" aimed at medical students and junior doctors.

Department of Health. Mr Edwards has acted as an advisor to the following: TheChildren's Rare and Complex Brain Tumours Task Force (NHS England) (2012-13). The NHS England Commissioning through evaluation (CtE) SDR Steering Group (2013-17).

Member information

Name

Richard Edwards

Member type

Individual independent practitioner

Specialty

Neurosurgeon

Subspecialties

  • Trained paediatric neurosurgeon

Languages spoken

  • English
  • Italian

Professional affiliations / memberships

  • ISPN
  • Other

Conditions treated

  • Hydrocephalus
  • Spinal dysraphism
  • Trauma
  • Tumor
  • Vascular
  • Spine
  • Spasticity

Equipment used

  • Drill
  • Microinstruments
  • Microscope
  • Neuroendoscope Flexible
  • Neuroendoscope Rigid
  • Frameless navigation
  • Spinal instrumentation
  • MRI
  • Angiography
  • CT