Distributed Augmented Reality with 3D Lung Dynamics -- A Planning Tool Concept
This addresses the need for improved planning and visualization tools in surgical and emergency medical settings, though it appears incremental as a prototype concept.
The paper tackles the problem of visualizing 3D lung dynamics in real-time during medical procedures by proposing a distributed augmented reality system that superimposes this information directly on a patient's body, with potential applications in emergency events and surgeries.
Augmented Reality (AR) systems add visual information to the world by using advanced display techniques. The advances in miniaturization and reduced costs make some of these systems feasible for applications in a wide set of fields. We present a potential component of the cyber infrastructure for the operating room of the future; a distributed AR based software-hardware system that allows real-time visualization of 3D lung dynamics superimposed directly on the patient's body. Several emergency events (e.g. closed and tension pneumothorax) and surgical procedures related to the lung (e.g. lung transplantation, lung volume reduction surgery, surgical treatment of lung infections, lung cancer surgery) could benefit from the proposed prototype.