Viewers around the world will be able to watch a cancer operation as if they were in the operating room tomorrow.

A British cancer patient is set to have his operation live streamed in a world first carried out by Dr Shafi Ahmed.

The stream started at 1pm BST (8am ET/5am PT) from The Royal London Hospital in partnership with Medical Realities and livestreaming service Mativision.

Watch the live stream from Mativision

A British cancer patient is set to have his operation live streamed in a world first as his surgeon, Dr Shafi Ahmed (left), completes the treatment. The operation will be streamed from 1pm BST (8am ET/5am PT) from The Royal London Hospital in partnership with Medical Realities and Mativision

Viewers will be able to watch the ground-breaking surgery using a smartphone and any virtual reality headset, making them feel as if they are in the operating theatre.

Viewers without a VR headset can still watch the operation on a smartphone or computer screen.

Dr Shafi Ahmed, who has championed virtual reality technology in surgery will perform the operation and called it a 'game-changer' for healthcare innovation and education.

Using several specialist cameras placed above the operating table, the operation will last between two to three hours.

HOW TO WATCH THE OPERATION Viewers will be able to watch the ground-breaking surgery using a smartphone and any virtual reality headset, making them feel as if they are in the operating theatre. The operation will be streamed from 1pm BST (8am ET/5am PT) from The Royal London Hospital in partnership with Medical Realities and livestreaming service Mativision. Viewers without a VR headset can still watch the operation on a smartphone or computer screen via Medical Realities. The VRinOR app is available for iOS and Android devices. For Samsung Gear VR, users can search for 'VRinOR' in the Oculus store. Advertisement

The patient, a British man in his 70s who is suffering from cancer of the colon, is said to be 'excited' about the prospect of having his operation watched by thousands of people across the globe.

The immersive broadcast will run a minute or so behind the surgery in case of any unforeseen complications.

For this project, Barts Health is working in partnership with Medical Realities, a healthcare company set up by Dr Ahmed to change the future of medical training through VR and Augmented Reality.

The operation will be filmed on two 360-degree cameras with multiple lenses and live streamed through Mativision's 360-degree and VR player to let viewers move around the theatre and zoom in and out of any aspect of the operation.

Medical students from Barts Health have been provided with VR headsets which provide the immersive experience, and will be participating in the operation from nearby seminar rooms in the hospital and at Queen Mary University of London.

Following this operation, the goal is to host more VR surgeries on the Mativision app, 'VR in OR' and Medical Realities website.

The aim for Mativision and Medical Realities is to overlay the Video On Demand content with CGI graphics and labels creating a bespoke, interactive educational experience for the global medical industry.

Viewers will be able to watch the ground-breaking surgery using a smartphone and any virtual reality headset, making them feel as if they are in the operating theatre. Viewers without a VR headset can still watch the operation on a smartphone or computer screen. A previous operation is pictured

Following this operation, the goal is to host more VR surgeries on the Mativision app, 'VR in OR' and Medical Realities website. The aim for Mativision and Medical Realities is to overlay the video content with graphics (example pictured) and labels creating an interactive educational experience

Dr Ahmed, cancer Surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust and co-founder of Medical Realities said: 'I am honoured that this patient has given permission for his experience to provide this unparalleled learning opportunity.

'As a champion of new technology in medicine, I believe that virtual and augmented reality can revolutionise surgical education and training, particularly for developing countries that don't have the resources and facilities of NHS hospitals.'

The operation will be filmed on two 360-degree cameras with multiple lenses (example pictured)

The VRinOR app is available for iOS and Android devices.

For Samsung Gear VR, users can search for 'VRinOR' in the Oculus store.

It isn't the first time Dr Ahmed has revolutionised surgery - in 2014 he became the first surgeon to live stream an operation whilst wearing Google Glass and has also experimented with 360-degree cameras.

Virtual reality is set to be the major technology trend of 2016, with Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg calling it the future of communicating and socialising.

The billionaire founder of the social network called headset-based technology 'the next platform', as he launched the Oculus Rift and Google has released a self-assembling kit called Cardboard which works by simply placing your smartphone in it.

Dr Ahmed added that the technology will 'address the global inequalities in surgical health and will allow trainees and surgeons to connect and train remotely across the world'.

'Trainees usually struggle to see over a surgeon's shoulder during an operation or have to stand in the corner and that way of learning has been accepted for the last hundred years.