The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), a global initiative of Qatar Foundation (QF), will showcase Smile Train’s virtual surgery simulator - a cleft lip and palate surgical training tool - as one of the 20 newest and most groundbreaking healthcare innovations, being presented at the second WISH summit next month.
Smile Train developed the virtual surgery simulator in collaboration with technology company BioDigital to address the challenge of training cleft surgeons around the world. A game-changer in surgical education and training, the simulator is a 3D, web-based, interactive tool that provides users with essential information and training on cleft anatomy and cleft surgical repair techniques.
The free, web-based tool offers a sustainable, accessible approach to cleft surgical training and advances Smile Train’s mission to provide a long-term, scalable solution to the global challenge of treating cleft lip and palate.
Since its founding in 1999, Smile Train has performed more than 1mn cleft repair surgeries around the world. The organisation currently reaches more than 350 children each day and 128,000 every year.
Susannah Schaefer, CEO of Smile Train, said: “Smile Train is thrilled to be participating at the WISH 2015 summit to showcase our virtual surgery simulator alongside other innovators in global health. We’re excited to share the simulator and our sustainable training model with experts tackling some of the most pressing and serious global health challenges facing governments, health systems and populations.”
WISH’s Innovation Showcases offers a platform for smaller, independent start-ups to share healthcare innovations that have the potential to transform lives and save governments’ money.
Prof the Lord Darzi of Denham, executive chair of WISH, said: “Smile Train is an example of healthcare innovation that cleverly utilises technology to reduce the burden of costs on suppliers and ease the channel of distribution for practitioners. The end result is better patient care, faster treatment, reduced costs and improved results. That is what our Innovation Showcases aims to highlight, ways to simply and effectively improve global healthcare for all.”
Only in its second year, WISH’s Innovation Showcases was opened up to global applicants and has received 80 applications from 26 countries.
The selection was made by the Innovation Showcases curation team, consisting of Prof the Lord Darzi of Denham, Dr Hanan al-Kuwari, managing director of Hamad Medical Corporation; Tim Brown of global ideas consultancy IDEO; and Bright Simons, president of mPedigree Network, social innovator and entrepreneur.
Simulator is a groundbreaking innovation for cleft lip surgery.
