Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif., is using virtual reality to plan and practice neurosurgery procedures, reports Fox La.

Four things to know:

1. The Surgical Navigation Advanced Platform, developed by Surgical Theater, allows surgeons to navigate through the patient's brain using VR.

2. Patients' MRI and CT scans are uploaded to the surgical theater system, generating a 360-degree model of brain tissue, blood vessels, bone and other structures around the brain.

3. Neurosurgeon Robert Louis, MD, used the technology over 1,000 times in the four years since it was adapted by HMH.

4. The SNAP device at HMH was funded entirely by philanthropy.

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