System development for unrestrictive view and 4D shape acquisition in abdominal cavity operation using virtual space.

Laparoscopic surgery has been used for various areas of abdominal cavity. However, the laparoscope has limitation of its field of view and mobility. Our aim is to develop a new video camera system that acquires multiple viewpoints in the abdominal cavity.

Training system for NOTES and SPS surgery robot that enables spatiotemporal retrospective analysis of the training process.

Within the digestive organ surgery robot R&D project, our research team aims to develop a surgical robot training device with an interface identical to that of the actual device. The training device uses an organ model that changes shape in real time to train operators to grab, cut open, and cut off soft tissues and close wounds using the actual device. To increase the effectiveness of the training device, we added functions to save the movements of the robot in training and changes in the operation field.

Role of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in the regulation of the cardiac L-type Ca(2+) current during endothelin-1 stimulation.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1) shows a positive inotropic effect on cardiac muscle. Although the L-type Ca(2+) current (I(Ca)) is one of the important determinants of cardiac excitation-contraction coupling, the effect of ET-1 on the I(Ca) is not always clear. The controversial results appear to be due to different patch-clamp methods.

Development of a 3D visualization system for surgical field deformation with geometric pattern projection.

Intra-operative navigation in which the target position is provided to assist an intuitive understanding of the surgical field has been studied and applied in many clinical areas. Position measurement of a surgical field is usually performed with a magnetic sensor, a marker type optical position sensor. For navigation of hard tissue, the measurement of several markers dispersedly located on the surface is enough to detect the position of an object that can be assumed as a rigid body.