Headlines
The headline that caught my attention this morning was not the much-vaunted electoral success of the so-called ‘King of the North’ but the one about conjoined twins. Two Nigerian babies were successfully separated last year in the UAE. Mercy and Goodness were joined at the head and a team of medical professionals from more than twenty countries worked together to separate them.
The team used a variety of sophisticated techniques using AI and AR to prepare themselves for over forty hours of surgery, separating skulls, brains, and blood vessels.
Wikimedia informs that AR or augmented reality ”is a form of 3D human–computer interaction that overlays real-time 3D-rendered computer graphics into the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted display.”
Mercy and Goodness made a full recovery from the complex, brilliant surgery and are now back home in Nigeria. The lead paedriatic surgeon from Great Ormond Street Hospital, (GOSH) Professor Noor ul Owase Jeelani said, ”This case involved a team split across three continents, helping children from a fourth … it is a beautiful example of how we can produce life-changing outcomes through global collaboration and knowledge-sharing: skill, technology and humanity coming together to defy all odds.”
Now, that is truly something to celebrate, and an example of cooperation we all could aspire to follow.
Very strongly connected twins, who I think were from Papua New Guinea, were successfully separated here, with I think a charity paying for the flights to and from Melbourne, accompanied by their mother, with the surgery and recovery paid for by our medical system. As you would expect, no one complained about the cost to the Australian taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteTruly amazing surgery benefits everyone, in one way or another. New techniques and strategies filter down into less complex procedures.
DeleteWhat we are able to do continues to be more and more amazing.
ReplyDeleteThere is no limit to exploration and discovery, in so many fields.
DeleteWow, amazing!
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely to read about such a life-affirming story rather than headlines about the constant vileness that seems the norm in international relations at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with your last sentence, Janice. As a species, we could (and did) achieve so much, if only we put our energy to the good and helpful.
ReplyDeleteLovely to get some uplifting news about human kindness than the other sort which dominates the headlines.
ReplyDeleteone of the things AI is doing that is good and all those people coming together is an amazing feat. thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteOne of the marvels of our shared humanity is to use all our intelligence to save the lives of others.
ReplyDeleteWe can separate conjoined twins but apparently we cannot remove white backgrounds from text in our blogs! Highlight and press "Clear Formatting" on your Blogger Dashboard.
ReplyDeleteThis is so fascinating- Is there an update on how the babies are thriving. What an amazing team effort.
ReplyDeleteIn my life I've known of several news articles about twins being separated. But it's been years since I've heard of a recent incident. It's marvelous that that's can be done safely.
ReplyDeleteThere is much that is good, kind, generous and a credit to gumanity in this world - it just doesn't make headlines as often as it deserves. If we seek it, it's not difficult to find. Thank you for sharing this good news item.
ReplyDeleteWow, 40 hours of surgery. It's fascinating and amazing all the technical advances they've made in medicine. So many things they can do to.
ReplyDeleteIt is heartening to see what we can accomplish amidst to low-level detritus that floods us.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing what can be done. Fabulous news.
ReplyDeleteAlways good to hear good news
ReplyDeleteAlison in Devon x