CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Level Ex, creator of industry-leading medical video games for physicians and surgeons, has announced the launch of its newest product, Virtual Technique Guides™. This collaborative surgical training platform applies the multiplayer interactivity of cloud gaming to enable surgeons to perform virtual procedures with medical device sales representatives over the same web conferencing platform.

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Virtual Technique Guides close a critical training gap that emerged as the medical device industry was crippled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, impeding sales teams and restricting access to train surgeons, nurses, and technicians in hospital settings. Without in-person meetings with medical device representatives, surgeons have reverted to PowerPoint slides, IFU documentation, and passive videos to acquire device knowledge and refine surgical techniques.

Performing Virtual Surgery, Together

A breakthrough technology, Virtual Technique Guides allow sales representatives to train surgeons located anywhere in the world, replicating any type of medical device, surgical procedure, patient type, or surgical complication. If a surgeon in Maine is having trouble with a specific step in a procedure, a trainer from a medical device company located in Boston can virtually meet with that surgeon within minutes to go through the procedure, step-by-step, in the Virtual Technique Guides remote training environment.

Users can access this environment on any mobile or desktop web browser by clicking on a web link or scanning a QR code—with no app to download or software to install. Sales representatives can continue their video conversation over the web conferencing platform of their choice with Virtual Technique Guides integrated into the experience. Compatible platforms include Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, GoToMeeting, Google Hangouts, and more.

Seamless Interactivity, Spectacular Visuals

Using the state-of-the-art in 3D visual effects, Virtual Technique Guides support thousands of medical procedures in all 27 surgical specialties and subspecialties featuring:

• Ultra-realistic anatomy and medical devices with spectacular detail
• Accurate tissue simulation that moves and responds realistically to user interaction
• Visualizations in real-time under visible light, X-ray, ultrasound, CT, and MRI
• Ability to replicate a full range of device movements down to the micrometer with multiple degrees of freedom

Cloud Gaming Technology Driving the Future of Surgical Training

Proven to facilitate knowledge transfer and improve skill, Virtual Technique Guides allow surgeons, sales representatives, and trainers to step into a virtual operating room to synchronously learn and reciprocate tasks between each other without having to be in the same physical space. The underlying technology enabling this never-before-seen surgical training is the company’s new, cloud-based gaming platform, Level Ex Remote Play™. To date, this level of cloud-gaming technology has been exclusive to major game streaming services like Playstation Now, Google Stadia, and Microsoft XCloud. Level Ex Remote Play marks the first application of this technology in healthcare.

“Level Ex is known for accurately recreating the fluids, tissues, and visualizations needed to capture the most advanced surgical scenarios on a mobile device. In 2019, we saw the next opportunity to transcend the limitations of smartphone hardware: we began making substantial investments in cloud-gaming technology to enable more realistic simulation by leveraging compute resources in the cloud,” said Sam Glassenberg, founder and CEO of Level Ex. “When COVID-19 hit, this investment proved more important than we could ever have imagined. We had the capability to recreate that critical training dynamic between the surgeon and their sales rep seen in the physical OR.”

Over the past year, Level Ex has recruited many of the top technologists and creatives from the video games industry—several of whom were instrumental in developing these new products. Examples include Chief Technology Officer Andy Glaister, who previously led Amazon’s game engine technology efforts and teams at Microsoft Games Studios and Microsoft DirectX, and Vice President, Studio Creative Director Jason VandenBerghe, who has led creative teams at top video game companies including Ubisoft (For Honor), Activision (Guitar Hero), and Electronic Arts. Level Ex’s elite game development team has worked hand-in-hand with top 10 medical device companies to enable their sales teams and swiftly connect them to surgeons using its years of experience building award-winning surgical training programs.

The Level Ex Virtual Technique Guides solution is now available for partnership. To learn more or request a demo, visit www.levelex.com/partnerships.

About Level Ex

Level Ex^® (a Brainlab company) creates industry-leading video games for physicians. The company uses state-of-the-art video game technology and cognitive neuroscience to capture the challenges of practicing medicine—revolutionizing the way healthcare professionals advance their clinical skills, earn CME, and keep up-to-speed on challenging cases, new medical devices, drug therapies, and clinical best practices. The company’s medical video games run on phones, tablets, and web browsers with over 700,000 healthcare professionals playing its games. Top 20 pharmaceutical and medical device companies, national medical societies, and government organizations including NASA leverage Level Ex’s acclaimed platform for education and training. Find out more at www.levelex.com and follow them on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

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