A group of surgeons in Switzerland recently made headlines after they managed to perform an endoscopic procedure on a pig located in Hong Kong. And they did it all with the help of a PlayStation Move controller.
The medical feat came about as a collaboration between the Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and ETH Zurich. It involved the use of a PS5 DualSense controller as well as a PlayStation Move controller. It’s an operation that allowed the surgeons to successfully operate on the pig with full control despite the 5,780 miles between them.
“Teleoperated endoscopy offers not only remote surgical training and mentoring but also immediate diagnostic and surgical care in remote areas, particularly when local expertise is lacking,” Department of Surgery at CU Medicine assistant professor Dr Shannon Melissa Chan said in a statement. “A remote expert can even instruct trained nurses to perform the procedures. Millions of patients worldwide will be able to be diagnosed and treated for gastrointestinal cancer in a timely manner as endoscopic technology becomes more accessible.”
ETH Zurich’s Professor Dr. Bradley Nelson adds that the team’s research will soon take them to perform a tele-endoscopy on a human stomach, though it’s unclear if PlayStation tech will still be involved. Nelson says there is potential for the technology to help with endoscopic procedures and in other areas, too.
The use of video game controllers in the medical realm opens the door for possibilities that could save lives, but it’s far from the first time we’ve seen gaming technology used for off-the-wall purposes. A recent, notorious example that comes to mind involves last year’s viral OceanGate disaster.
The incident, which involved a submersible controlled by a Logitech F710 Wireless Gamepad, resulted in the deaths of five people traveling to get a closer look at the Titanic. The US military has also been known to use gaming tech for its own purposes, with one example seeing Xbox controllers used to test laser defense systems in 2014.
For more, you can check out our list of the top 10 gaming controllers of all time.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
