Three-year-olds Bernardo and Arthur Lima have been separated after undergoing seven surgical procedures over 27 hours of operating time, involving over 100 medical staff.
To achieve this feat, surgeons in London and Rio de Janeiro leveraged virtual reality (VR) projections of the twins based on CT and MRI scans. The procedures then took place in Brazil, with the direction of Great Ormond Street Hospital paediatric surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani, who participated in the surgery from the UK via virtual reality.
The separation was "one of the most complex separation processes ever completed", according to the charity Jeelani founded in 2018, Gemini Untwined, which funded the procedure. He described the use of VR as “space-age stuff”.
Noor ul Owase Jeelani with Bernardo (left) and Arthur, and parents Adriely and Antonia...