A portable immersive surgery training system using RGB-D sensors

Stud Health Technol Inform. 2013:184:161-7.

Abstract

Surgical training plays an important role in assisting residents to develop critical skills. Providing effective surgical training, however, remains as a challenging task. Existing videotaped training instructions can only show imagery from a fixed viewpoint that lacks both depth perception and interactivity. We present a new portable immersive surgical training system that is capable of acquiring and displaying high fidelity 3D reconstructions of actual surgical procedures. Our solution utilizes a set of Microsoft Kinect sensors to simultaneously recover the participants, the surgical environment, and the surgical scene itself. We then develop a space-time navigator to allow the trainees to witness and explore a prior procedure as if they were there. Preliminary feedback from residents shows that our system is much more effective than conventional videotaped system.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Actigraphy / instrumentation*
  • Biofeedback, Psychology / instrumentation*
  • Colorimetry / instrumentation
  • Computer-Assisted Instruction / instrumentation*
  • Educational Measurement / methods
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Humans
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / instrumentation*
  • Surgery, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation*
  • Transducers*
  • User-Computer Interface*