Kinect gaming system helps Toronto surgeons
Posted on 15 Jun 2011 by Alan Burns
Surgeons at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto, Canada, are using video game technology as an aid in surgery.
Using Microsoft’s Xbox platform and the hands-free Kinect controller, surgeons access medical images such as X-rays, MRIs and CT scans, without having to touch anything. Not only can many images be quickly accessed, but surgeons no longer need to touch a keyboard or mouse which always added some risk to sterility.
“What this was able to do is take away that last barrier and remove the mouse, remove the interface… and now I just give it hand signs”, said Dr. Calvin Law, a surgical oncologist. “We’re able to control the computer without actually touching anything.”
“You’re always concerned to a degree that every time you move away from the operating table, every time you have to go to another area, you always put your sterility at risk a little bit,” Law says. “There’s nothing like minimizing the risk to absolutely as low as possible.”
Previously, when using a conventional mouse and keyboard, a surgical team member had to scrub out to access the computer images, then scrub in again to return to the surgery. This could add as mush as two hours to a long operation. This time is now saved with the hands-free Kinect system.
The system was created by a first-year surgical resident who is also an electrical engineer, an engineering friend, and a computer engineer. The Kinect camera sensors capture movements and gestures, and two computers and some custom hardware recognize the user and translate gestures into image access commands.
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