OLYMPUS Medical is one of Southend’s largest employers, with more than 800 people serving customers across the globe.

Reporter David Trayner learned how the medical optics firm uses technology developed for Hollywood films to help surgeons from Ireland to Africa.

Olympus Medical’s Endoeye(CORR) 3D imaging range is one of the 100-year-old company's latest innovations.

Surgeons use laparoscopes to see inside a patient while carrying out keyhole surgery, allowing them to operate via only a small cut without opening the patient up completely.

Using technology developed for Hollywood blockbusters like Avatar, two cameras at the end of the scope act like eyes to create a 3D image on a screen, allowing the doctor, who wears special glasses like those used in cinemas, to judge depth of field more easily.

Tests have shown doctors work faster and make fewer mistakes when able to see in 3D. 

  • Watch below how the technology works and see today's Echo for a two-page feature and interviews with the people behind the latest kit.