VR Confocal Imaging |Biomedical Modeling with Haptics | Virtual Pelvic Floor | Agent-Based Biomechanical Simulation | Virtual Nasal and Craniofacial Anatomy
A
Tele-Immersive System for Surgical Consultation and Implant
Modeling
The major goal of this research is to develop
and deploy a networked collaborative surgical system for tele-immersive
consultation, surgical pre-planning, implant design, post operative evaluation
and education. Tele-immersion enables users in different locations to
collaborate in a shared, virtual, or simulated environment as if they are in the
same room. It is the ultimate synthesis of networking and media technologies to
enhance collaborative environments.
Tele-immersive applications combine audio, avatars (representations of participants), virtual worlds, computation and tele-conferencing into an integrated networked system. This proposal represents a unique collaboration between three groups, the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL), the Virtual Reality in Medicine Laboratory (VRMedLab) and the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
The process of implant design begins with CT data of the patient and the Personal Augmented Reality Immersive System (Paris TM) system. The implant will be designed by medical professionals in tele-immersive collaboration. In the Paris augmented reality system the user’s hands and the virtual images appear superimposed in the same volume so the user can see what he is doing. A haptic device supplies the sense of touch by applying forces to a handle or stylus that the medical modeler uses to form the implant.
After the virtual model of the implant is designed, the data is sent via network to a stereolithography rapid prototyping system that creates the physical implant model. After implant surgery, the patient undergoes a postoperative CT scan and results are evaluated and reviewed over the tele-immersive consultation system.
Collaborators:
Zhuming Ai, Ray Evenhouse, Mary
Rasmussen, VRMedLab, University of Illinois at Chicago
Chris Scharver, Jason Leigh, Dan Sandin, Greg Dawe and Tom DeFanti, Electronic Visualization Lab (EVL), University of Illinois at Chicago
Fady Charbel M.D., Head, Dept. of Neurological Surgery, University of Illinois at Chicago
Mike Boruta, Laser Modeling Inc.
This
research is funded by the National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of
Health No1-LM-3-3507.
Contact: Ray Evenhouse 
