I’ve written before that Kinect has some wonderful medical applications.  Here’s another one.

When a surgeon is operating, there is a need to see CT scans, X rays, and the like to insure that the operation will be a success.  But, having to “scrub out” to manipulate images and examine the scans not only adds to the time of an operation, it increases the chance for infection, with the “in and out” activity. After all, mice and keyboards are not sterile.

Moreover, depending upon the complicated nature of a given operation, these images may need to be examined every few minutes, once an hour, or perhaps only once- which means that the flow of the operation and surgeon’s concentration are at risk.  Each of these interruptions could take as long as 10 minutes- which means the patient must stay anesthetized longer and the operation’s costs escalate, since OR (operating room) time is not free.

The alternative is to have a non-sterile nurse either on standby (also expensive) or wait for their availability to manipulate the images or change views.  The additional problem is the surgeon knows exactly what s/he wants to see- the assistant does not.

Now, with Kinect, the surgeon can wave his (her) arms and manipulate the images, or even scan multiple images.  Dr. T. Carrell of the Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital (London) does just that.  Using CT scans and a 3D model of the abdominal aorta, the images- and a live-fluoroscopic camera (X-ray)  were projected within the operating theatre (2D image).  This meant he could truly see the turns, twists, and branches of the aorta, as he worked on it.

The Kinect device was modified by Microsoft Research (Dr. G. Gonzales, post doc), in conjunction with King’s College (London), as well as the Guy and St. Thomas’ Hospital.  Given the fact that the surgeon really can’t “spread eagle” his arms to manipulate the images, gesture protocols had to be developed that would work within the operating room constraints.  As such, one-handed gestures and voice commands were developed- which left the other hand free to operate.  But, panning or zooming still required the use of both hands.

King’s College (Imaging Services) developed the software, using the Kinect Windows for Software Development Kit.  The initial goal was to alleviate the difficulties in complex aneurysm surgeries.  The 2D images (various views) are coalesced and used to post a 3D anatomy view of the patient. This development meant that surgeons will no longer be required to commit the images to memory.  Which failure can lead to unfortunate lapses- and that need to go out and examine the images.

This is also what Dr. C. Law (Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto) is banking on.  He is developing a new Kinect-based medical image viewer in concert with GestSure (Seattle).  They are developing an entire guide of gestures that will work with their system.  (The system is shown below.)

These two developments should serve to lower operating room costs, speed up operations, and cause less stress in the operating theater.

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