On the 1 April, a large group of students from years two to five were welcomed to IKEM by Dr Jaroslav Chlupáč, a transplant surgeon specialising in vascular surgery. The first presentation took us through a generalised overview of all the work under the umbrella of the Transplant Centre, from retrieval to post-operative care. The focus of the facility is primarily on intra-abdominal organ transplantation, and abdominal and vascular surgical procedures. We were able to see videos from the operating theatre: seeing transplanted organs 'pink up' with blood.
The second presentation and David Sibřina MSc. took us through the technological work required before the surgeons are able to use three dimensional models visualising vasculature, segments and more with virtual reality headsets. This equipment allows the doctors to plan and practise the operations before performing them on the patient, especially as the models can be made true to size. We were able to try out the virtual reality goggles ourselves, and found them to be very sensitive and intuitive to the user's hand movements, as well as having incredibly detailed scans with different tissues highlighted in different colours. Dr Chlupáč also allowed us to take a quick look in the operating theatres in groups after changing into clogs and scrubs. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences for a theatre specified for transplant surgeries and the equipment used.
We really enjoyed our time at IKEM and appreciated the warm welcome- we're looking forward to the sixth year when we can return for placements at the centre and develop a much deeper knowledge and gain hands-on experience. We also really appreciate Petra, who was able to organise this great experience for us!
Text by S. Ghodke
Pictures: J. Chlupáč
