By Andrea Park

In just the last few years, virtual reality technology has morphed from a science-fiction pipe dream to a widely used tool in gaming, workforce training and, increasingly, healthcare.

VR headsets are already being used to conduct routine vision tests, treat conditions ranging from lazy eye to lower back pain and, perhaps most impressively, provide both preoperative training and real-time guidance for surgeons conducting complex procedures.

The lifesaving potential of that last application is now on full display, as physicians in Brazil and the U.K. reported this week the success of a VR-guided surgery to separate twins who were conjoined at the skull.

According to Gemini Untwined, the London-based charity that facilitated the procedure, the Brazilian twins Arthur and Bernardo were born craniopagus, an extremely rare condition in which twins are born with their skulls and, often, some brain tissue and blood vessels fused together.

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Continue reading here: Virtual Reality Tech Helps Separate Conjoined Twins In Brazil