VIDEO glasses can now be worn to comfort patients who are undergoing a procedure without anaesthesia or with only local anaesthetic. 

The goggles are believed to make "the time pass much quicker" for certain procedures, including prostate artery embolization, cancer treatments and a selection of other treatments.

And according to a doctor at The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RBCH), their hospital is the only place using them during operations.

With an aim to help improve patient experience throughout surgery, the goggles allow personal entertainment to be viewed by patients rather than silently having to sit through a clinical procedure.

They can play both HD and 3D videos, daytime television, boxsets, or project the procedure directly to a patient to distract them, while reducing anxiety and awareness during invasive medical care.

The glasses have been sent from iTV Goggles, which is based in America, to allow RBCH to perform a trial and evaluate patient opinion, as part of a quality improvement project.

The intervention comes as part of a trial started up by interventional radiologist Dr Clare Bent, who works at RBCH.

Dr Clare Bent said: “We plan to use them during local anaesthetic procedures, which are minimally invasive but complex, and can be time consuming. These include prostate artery embolization, cancer treatments and a selection of other treatments.

“The aim is to distract and improve patient comfort and experience. So far patients have given positive feedback and some patients are frequently unaware of what is happening and the time passes much quicker.”

Patients may also take up less time using beds in the hospital as a result of the distraction.

This is because the use of the goggles is said to lessen the amount of sedation a patient may require, which can in turn get them home quicker.

Dr Bent said she is unaware of anyone else in the UK using video glasses in this way.