Liver iSurgery completed with the help of an iPad medical app
“The tablet uses augmented reality, which allows the liver to be filmed with an iPad and overlaid during an operation with virtual 3D models reconstructed from the real organ. Developed by Fraunhofer MEVIS in Bremen, this procedure helps locate critical structures such as tumors and vessels and is expected to improve the quality of transferring pre-operational resection plans into actual surgery, according to Bianka Hofmann from the institute”.
Apart from locating the tumors and vessels and to reconstruct the real organ with the help of 3D models, this medical app has some other capabilities:
-Simply by marking the touchscreen, the doctor can measure the length of the vessel to be removed and establish if another vessel must be inserted. After the vessel has been removed, it also offers the doctor the option to virtually remove the vessel from the app screen. Thus, the underlying structures can be easier observed.
- Too often, quick decisions must be taken during an operation. If a tumor seems to be larger than at first thought, the app can calculate which part of the organ will no longer be sufficiently supplied with blood, and the surgeon can determine if the remaining organ volume is large enough for the patient to survive.
This surgery shows that the latest technology and development of medical apps such as the one created by Fraunhofer MEVIS (Institute for Medical Image Computing) for iPad, could come in pretty handful and would ease greatly the surgeons work.
I hope you agree that this is an interesting subject worth being developed. I’ll write about some more interesting medical apps and inventions in the medical field with the help of technology soon. How does iDoctor and medical app prescriptions instead of medication sounds? Keep an eye on our blog and you’ll find more about it.