A device guidance method for organ motion compensation in MRI-guided therapy.

Organ motion compensation in image-guided therapy is an active area of research. However, there has been little research on motion tracking and compensation in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided therapy. In this paper, we present a method to track a moving organ in MRI and control an active mechanical device for motion compensation.

Device connectivity for image-guided medical applications.

The integration of medical devices with software applications is crucial for image-guided medical applications. This work describes a general device interface that has been designed for high-frequency streaming of multi-modal events, thus providing maximum performance and flexibility for such applications. Several sample applications and performance tests are provided to demonstrate the usability of the concept.

Workflow modeling and analysis of computer guided prostate brachytherapy under MR imaging control.

We demonstrate that classical Business Process Reengineering (BPR) methods can be successfully applied to Computer Aided Surgery while increasing safety and efficiency of the overall procedure through an integrated Workflow Management System. Computer guided Prostate Brachytherapy, as a sophisticated treatment by an interdisciplinary team, is perfectly suited to apply our method. Detailed suggestions for improvement of the whole procedure could be derived by our modified BPR method.

Safety in computer assisted surgery.

Today, surgeons accept computer assisted technologies as important tools to enhance the treatment of a patient. The positive impact and acceptance of computer assisted technologies could be increased to a great extent, if all methods and devices used for diagnosis and treatment of a patient are better co-ordinated and more finely tuned. Often computer assisted treatments cannot be performed due to a lack of communication between hospital departments, useless patient data, deficient interfaces, etc.

Computer aided planning device for preoperative bending of osteosynthesis plates.

In craniofacial surgery bone fractures and repositioned bone segments often have to be fixed by titanium miniplates. In clinical routines the surgeon has to fit each miniplate t be used to the individual bone structure of the patient: bending and fitting of a miniplate must frequently be repeated several times. Often up to twenty minutes are required to achieve the best fit of a single osteosynthesis plate.