AR in VR: assessing surgical augmented reality visualizations in a steerable virtual reality environment.

PURPOSE  : Augmented reality (AR) has emerged as a promising approach to support surgeries; however, its application in real world scenarios is still very limited. Besides sophisticated registration tasks that need to be solved, surgical AR visualizations have not been studied in a standardized and comparative manner. To foster the development of future AR applications, a steerable framework is urgently needed to rapidly evaluate new visualization techniques, explore their individual parameter spaces and define relevant application scenarios.

Virtual and Augmented Reality Systems for Renal Interventions: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: Many virtual and augmented reality systems have been proposed to support renal interventions. This paper reviews such systems employed in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma and renal stones.

Methods: A systematic literature search was performed.

Auditory feedback to support image-guided medical needle placement.

Purpose: During medical needle placement using image-guided navigation systems, the clinician must concentrate on a screen. To reduce the clinician's visual reliance on the screen, this work proposes an auditory feedback method as a stand-alone method or to support visual feedback for placing the navigated medical instrument, in this case a needle.

Methods: An auditory synthesis model using pitch comparison and stereo panning parameter mapping was developed to augment or replace visual feedback for navigated needle placement.

Comparison of gesture and conventional interaction techniques for interventional neuroradiology.

Purpose: Interaction with radiological image data and volume renderings within a sterile environment is a challenging task. Clinically established methods such as joystick control and task delegation can be time-consuming and error-prone and interrupt the workflow. New touchless input modalities may have the potential to overcome these limitations, but their value compared to established methods is unclear.