First, we had virtual visits with healthcare professionals via a computer screen, and now technology brings us “real” people for patient appointments.

Holography was initially introduced to the worldwide entertainment public when entrepreneurs envisioned tours with dead musicians performing astonishingly realistically via technology. Initially, it was treated with shock, astonishment, and potential lawsuits from the estates of the famous musicians to be featured.

Gradually, however, the realization set in that this was a genuine alternative approach that could enrich the entertainment experience and the bank accounts of the estates of those performers. In a different extension of similar technology, not only would musicians like Prince be brought back via holography but CGI, can put dead actors in some form in new films. The technology enabled Marlon Brando to play Jor-El again in Superman Returns (2006), part of the Superman series after he died.

Therefore, we now have two similar but slightly different ways to recreate people in whatever form and wherever we wish—think The Terminator series of shapeshifters. We have truly entered the world of science fiction and entertainment, and now it is entering medicine with the first holographic physician appointment with a patient.

Ray Kurzweil, a master of computer artificial intelligence, predicts even more technological advances that will surpass anything we have ever dreamed of in artificial intelligence. He lays it all out in his latest book, The Singularity Is Nearer.

There are technical differences between holograms and CGI. Holograms create a complete visual image of a person at a distant location. At the same time, CGI superimposes one person's image over another to create a realistic walking, talking actor, a dead actor if the script calls for the person who fulfills script requirements. One advantage for film production is that if a central performer in the film dies before it is finished, it can be completed with CGI.

The new holography technology shows how people can usefully connect with the digital world. Currently, people are using 3D imaging technologies to solve problems in gaming, education, medical training, and other related fields. This is a disruptive idea. Medicine can plan surgeries, look for health problems, make X-rays, and learn more about tissues and systems (both inside and outside the body). The training aspects, especially when it incorporates haptics and the sense of touch, boggle the mind.

What about the entrance of holography into medical appointments with patients? How might this differ from the experience patients have with telemedicine, where they speak directly to a live person via a computer screen?

A new hospital initiative will put all of this to the real-world test. In it, physicians in locations miles away will appear in a box to speak directly to the patient as though they were sitting in the room. The first hospital to offer holographic visits is Crescent Regional Hospital in Lancaster, Texas.

The hospital in the Dallas area already has a holographic video studio, and it will add more by putting mini-hologram screens all over the building and in clinics connected to it. This is believed to create a more patient-friendly experience since the patient will see the physician's complete body and interact with them. Only time and additional research will provide us with the information we need regarding how effective this form of healthcare can be now and in the future.

The potential for training is intriguing, although not revolutionary. Holography turns knowledge about the body into a digital format that could provide medical students and doctors with information, promote their work, and create a degree of excitement and pleasure regarding their work.

JThe technology, however, comes at a cost in terms of room to store the enormous amount of data, the cost of the equipment and software to do analysis, and the need to have sophisticated training to make changes whenever necessary.

This technology could help with several medical problems by saving and using patient data to make 3D holograms, which can help with treatment and surgery. It also seems useful for offering flexible solutions in medical studies. When surgeons use this technology, they can see colorful organs more clearly from different views, and it provides a new way of planning, testing processes, and making diagnoses.

We are truly at the dawn of making a new and significant technological impact on healthcare in most of its areas of interest, including patient nutrition after surgery. The US Mayo Clinic is preparing for the first practical application of the model from Hologram Sciences, which is a key part of the company’s Precision Nutrition Platform.

The goal is to improve patient care and deal with malnutrition problems during surgery recovery. They ensure meals are evaluated pre- and post-surgery, and the company also employs nutritionists for all evaluations.

Areas of the country, and in fact, worldwide, where healthcare is not available in sufficient quantity, will now be able to avail themselves of holographic appointments with worldwide authorities, or even those locally, but at a significant difference. Of course, the cost will remain one of the major impediments to implementing this technology, but technological advances may bring that cost down to a more reasonable expenditure.