Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News

      Researchers Devise Virtual Surgery Simulator

      By
      Stacy Lawrence
      -
      August 16, 2006
      Share
      Facebook
      Twitter
      Linkedin

        Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Harvard Medical School, Albany Medical Center and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are collaborating to develop a new approach to surgical training—a virtual simulator that will allow surgeons to handle computer-generated organs with actual tools used in minimally invasive surgery.

        Based on haptics, a science focused on the sense of touch, the new simulator is intended to provide an immersive environment for surgeons to touch, feel, and manipulate computer-generated 3-D tissues and organs with instruments handled in actual surgery. Not only might this be useful for surgical training, but it could provide a standardized assessment of surgical skill.

        “The most important single factor that determines the success of a surgical procedure is the skill of the surgeon,” notes Suvranu De, assistant professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering and director of the Advanced Computational Research Lab at Rensselaer.

        The researchers published a description of their new computational technique in the June/July issue of the journal Presence. Beginning in the summer of 2006, their work will be supported by a $1.4 million, four-year grant from the NIH (National Institutes of Health). This funding will extend the original three-year exploratory NIH grant De received in 2004 to support the initial phases of the research.

        Surgical simulators, even more than flight simulators, are based on intense computation. To program the realism of touch feedback from a surgical probe navigating through soft tissue, the researchers must develop efficient computer models that perform 30-times faster than real-time graphics, solving complex sets of partial differential equations about a thousand times a second.

        One major challenge to current technologies is the simulation of soft biological tissues, according to De. Such tissues are heterogeneous and viscoelastic, meaning they exhibit characteristics of both solids and liquids—similar to chewing gum or silly putty. And surgical procedures such as cutting and cauterizing are almost impossible to simulate with traditional techniques.

        To overcome these barriers, Des group has developed a new computational tool that models human tissue as a collection of particles with distinct, overlapping zones of influence that produce coordinated, elastic movements. A single point in space models each spot, while its relationship to nearby points is determined by the equations of physics. The localized points migrate along with the tip of the virtual instrument, much like a roving swarm of bees. This method enables the program to rapidly perform hundreds of thousands of calculations for real-time touch feedback, making it superior to other approaches, according to the researchers.

        /zimages/2/28571.gifClick here to read about digital cameras may be useful in identifying early tooth decay.

        “Our approach is physics-based,” De said. “The technologies that are currently available for surgical simulation are mostly graphical renderings of organs, and surgeons are not very happy with them.”

        The team plans to develop initial prototype technology to be tested by surgeons and surgical residents at the Carl J. Shapiro Simulation and Skills Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. Upon the development of a successful prototype, researchers hope to apply the model to a much wider class of medical procedures.

        “The grand vision,” De said, “is to develop a palpable human—a giant database of human anatomy that provides real-time interactivity for a variety of uses, from teaching anatomy to evaluating injuries in a variety of scenarios. In the long run, a better simulator could even help in the design of new surgical tools and techniques.”

        /zimages/2/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, views and analysis of technologys impact on health care.

        Stacy Lawrence
        Stacy Lawrence is co-editor of CIOInsight.com's Health Care Center. Lawrence has covered IT and the life sciences for various publications, including Business 2.0, Red Herring, The Industry Standard and Nature Biotechnology. Before becoming a journalist, Lawrence attended New York University and continued on in the sociology doctoral program at UC Berkeley.

        MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

        Cybersecurity

        Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

        James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
        I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
        Read more
        Cloud

        Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

        James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
        Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
        Read more
        Big Data and Analytics

        GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

        James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
        I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
        Read more
        IT Management

        Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

        James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
        I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
        Read more
        Applications

        Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

        James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
        I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
        Read more
        Logo

        eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

        Facebook
        Linkedin
        RSS
        Twitter
        Youtube

        Advertisers

        Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

        Advertise with Us

        Menu

        • About eWeek
        • Subscribe to our Newsletter
        • Latest News

        Our Brands

        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms
        • About
        • Contact
        • Advertise
        • Sitemap
        • California – Do Not Sell My Information

        Property of TechnologyAdvice.
        © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

        Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

        ×