Clubfoot is a common congenital disorder of the legs that affects 1 in 1000 childbirths in India. It causes the foot to turn inward and downward, resulting in difficulty walking. However, it is possible to completely treat the condition if addressed during early childhood.

Owing to the same, the King George Medical University (KGMU) in Lucknow is taking steps to improve treatment techniques. Specifically, the university will establish an Augmented Virtual Reality Lab (AR-VR) within the paediatric orthopaedics department to train surgeons in precise techniques for treating this deformity.

Reportedly, the new lab will be equipped with state-of-the-art augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) based technology further aiming to provide practical training to orthopaedic surgeons and support staff on Ponseti method. The method is a non-surgical procedure which is utilized worldwide for correcting clubfoot.

The focus of technology at the new lab will be to provide surgeons and doctors with an immersive treatment experience combining both real-world and virtual environments which would be done using a head-mounted display or an Oculus device. This will enhance the precision of treatment procedures for curing children with clubfoot anomalies.

In addition, the lab is to be established between October to November for which an MoU was signed with CURE International Trust (CIIT) recently.