--- title: "Surgeons Use VR Headsets to Separate Conjoined Twins" description: "Miraculously, surgeons just successfully completed one of the most complicated conjoined twin separations ever recorded — with the help of virtual reality." date: "2022-08-01" modified: "2022-08-01" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/vr-headsets-separate-conjoined-twins" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Prosthetics and Devices" tags: - "brain" - "conjoined twins" - "craniopagus" - "virtual reality" --- # Surgeons Use VR Headsets to Separate Conjoined Twins ![Miraculously, surgeons just successfully completed one of the most complicated conjoined twin separations ever recorded — with the help of virtual reality.]() *\Image: PA Media\* Surgeons just successfully completed one of the most complicated conjoined twin separations ever recorded — with the help of virtual reality. "In some ways these operations are considered the hardest of our time, and to do it in virtual reality was just really man-on-Mars stuff," Noor ul Owase Jeelani, one of the surgeons who led the procedure and the founder of the charity Gemini Untwined, [told British news agency *PA Media*](). The three-year-old Brazilian twins, Bernardo and Arthur, were born with craniopagus, which means that they were born with fused brains. As [the *BBC* reports](), this condition is especially rare and, perhaps unsurprisingly, exceptionally difficult to treat. In fact, surgeons had already failed at multiple attempts to detach the boys, which had led to a buildup of scar tissue, further diminishing the hope for a successful separation. To counter the many obstacles presented by the nature of craniopagus, as well as the extensive scarring, the team of surgeons — which, thanks to the use of VR technology, included medical professionals from around the world — used VR as a tool to limit risk and predict outcomes. Using MRI and CT scans, the surgeons worked with VR engineers to create a perfect digital modeling of the boys' entangled anatomy. In doing so, they were not only able to "see" into the twins' fused brains, but were also given the opportunity to trial different surgery techniques. While this [isn't the first time]() that VR has been used in the process of separating children with craniopagus, Jeelani did clarify to *PA Media* that this was the first instance in which surgeons in multiple countries met in a digital operating room and practiced the procedure together. "It's just wonderful," Jeelani told *PA Media*, referring to the VR integration. "It's really great to see the anatomy and do the surgery before you actually put the children at any risk." The real-life surgery took 27 hours and over 100 medical personnel in total. Fortunately, everything went according to plan and the twins are [reportedly recovering well](). The operation's success may open the door to the application of VR to a number of other surgical interventions, even beyond complex cases of craniopagus. "The model of what we have done, I think," Jeelani told *PA Media*, "can and should be replicated for other super-rare conditions." **More on tech breakthroughs in medicine:** [*Doctors Gene-edit Patient's Liver to Make Less Cholesterol*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()