An immersive surgery training system with live streaming capability.

Providing real-time, interactive immersive surgical training has been a key research area in telemedicine. Earlier approaches have mainly adopted videotaped training that can only show imagery from a fixed view point. Recent advances on commodity 3D imaging have enabled a new paradigm for immersive surgical training by acquiring nearly complete 3D reconstructions of actual surgical procedures.

A portable immersive surgery training system using RGB-D sensors.

Surgical training plays an important role in assisting residents to develop critical skills. Providing effective surgical training, however, remains as a challenging task. Existing videotaped training instructions can only show imagery from a fixed viewpoint that lacks both depth perception and interactivity.

A non-photorealistic surgery simulation system.

Surgery simulation plays an important role in surgery planning, surgeon training, and telemedicine. A long-standing problem in this region is how to integrate coherent visual illustrations to deformation. In this paper, we present a new non-photorealistic surgery simulation system that combines force visualization and dynamic pencil-stroke illustration.

An accelerated haptic feedback algorithm utilizing volume reconstruction.

Surgery simulation is playing an increasing role in medical education. A long standing problem in this area is how to integrate fast yet realistic haptic feedback to the system. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to accelerate the recently proposed volume-based haptic feedback approach.

Volumetric MRI and MRS and early motor development of infants born preterm.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in infants born less than 30 weeks gestation and early motor development at 6 months adjusted age.

Methods: Twenty infants born preterm and 4 born at term (control) underwent MRI with volumetric analysis and MRS prior to neonatal intensive care unit discharge. Infants were assessed using the Bayley Scale of Infant Development at 6 months adjusted age.

Three dimensional projection environment for molecular design and surgical simulation.

We are developing agents for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of cancer gene mRNA expression and software to fuse mRNA PET images with anatomical computerized tomography (CT) images to enable volumetric (3D) haptic (touch-and-feel) simulation of pancreatic cancer and surrounding organs prior to surgery in a particular patient. We have identified a novel ligand specific for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) to direct PET agent uptake specifically into cancer cells, and created a volumetric haptic surgical simulation of human pancreatic cancer reconstructed from patient CT data. Young's modulus and the Poisson ratio for each tissue will be adjusted to fit the experience of participating surgeons.

A generalized haptic feedback approach for arbitrarily shaped objects.

In surgery procedures, haptic interaction provides surgeons with indispensable information to accurately locate the surgery target. This is especially critical when visual feedback cannot provide sufficient information and tactile interrogation, such as palpating some region of tissue, is required to locate a specific underlying tumor. However, in most current surgery simulators, the haptic interaction model is usually simplified into a contact sphere or rod model, leaving arbitrarily shaped intersection haptic feedback between target tissue and surgery instrument less unreliable.

Virtual bronchoscopy: clinical applications and limitations.

Virtual bronchoscopy (VB) is a term that describes a variety of software-based three-dimensional visualizations created from noninvasive medical imaging methods such as CT or MRI scans, with the goal of creating results similar to minimally invasive bronchoscopy procedures of the trachea and upper airways. This technique offers a detailed, noninvasive view of the airways, with reduced risk of infection or perforation, and facilitates preoperative planning for airway interventions that would otherwise not be possible. It is unlikely that VB will replace fiberoptic bronchoscopy; however, as VB techniques become more sophisticated and as sufficient computing and imaging power become more readily available, noninvasive visualization of the airways will play an important and useful role in the evaluation of airway diseases in well defined clinical situations.

A virtual-reality approach for the treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is a common cause of dizziness caused by debris, which has collected within the semicircular canals of the inner ear. Stereoscopic representations of the human labyrinth are constructed and incorporated into a downloadable viewing platform to allow visualization of straightforward and complex variations of BPPV.