During tonight's episode of The Good Doctor, fans were stunned to see Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) and Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) practice heart surgery using a high-tech virtual reality system.





In the scene, the two doctors wore VR glasses and special equipment on their hands to practice surgery on a computer model of a heart.

Shaun had an idea on how to save a young boy from the Congo who was being treated at St. Bonaventure hospital. Melendez didn't think the procedure would work, but eventually they figured out how it could be used to save the boy.

Of course, when the procedure was put into practice on the boy's real heart, it didn't go smoothly. Thankfully in the end, the boy was saved.

"Trial and error pays off...good thing they got to practice scenarios in VR mode. Now time to do it for real! Ahhh! This is nerve-wracking," one viewer wrote.

@GoodDoctorABC Trial and error pays off...good thing they got to practice scenarios in VR mode. Now time to do it for real! Ahhh! This is nerve-wracking! #TheGoodDoctor 😨 — Philip Louie (@philiplouie01) November 28, 2017





Most fans of the show were wowed by the scene.

Watching Dr. Melendez and Shaun work VR is incredible @IamNickGonzalez and @freddiehighmore just gettin it done! #TheGoodDoctor — inner vs. outer me (@misfittoymaker) November 28, 2017





COOLEST use of #VR on #TheGoodDoctor!!!!! Please save him!!! — Dianna Albanese (@dialbanese) November 28, 2017





"So how was your week Shaun?"

"I got to do VR and saved a child life, what about you Claire"

"I lost hours trying to find a god damn sample"#thegooddoctor — Philippe Laroche (@caramind93) November 28, 2017





Others also asked if VR surgery simulators really exist. The answer is yes. ZDNet reported that Case Western Reserve University started using Microsoft's HoloLens system to help students learn anatomy instead of cadavers.

The video below shows the world's first 360 VR brain surgery, butting the viewer inside the surgical theater during the operation. There is also a system called Surgical Theater, which aims to help in surgical planning.

Photo: ABC