This is a ‘man-on-Mars’ story, famed English neurosurgeon Dr Noor Ul Owase Jeelani told the Press Association. “In some ways, these operations are considered the hardest of our time, and to do it in virtual reality was just really man-on-Mars stuff,” he said.

He was talking about the separation of two Brazilian twins who were joined at the head, using virtual reality and surgical teams in two countries, the UK and Brazil.