Which technology device could be used to view a patients internal organs How will it be done?

Augmented reality (AR) technologies that blend computer-generated images and data from MRI and CT scans with real-world views are making it possible for doctors to “see under the skin” of their patients to visualize bones, muscles, and internal organs without having to cut open a body.

Experts say AR will transform medical care by improving precision during operations, reducing medical errors, and giving doctors and patients alike a better understanding of complex medical problems.

Augmented reality could help doctors determine exactly where to make injections and incisions. In medical emergencies, it could be used to display life-saving information for AR-equipped paramedics and other first responders: “It could have ‘push here’ [over the heart], and on the other side of the person's chest are the instructions for what to do,” says Dr. Greg Kawchuk, a professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and a leader in medical applications of AR.

Kawchuk is a researcher on ProjectDR, an augmented reality system that can map internal medical scans into three-dimensional images overlaid on a patient’s body, either with a video projector or via AR smart glasses. He says AR will eliminate the “historic disconnect” between a doctor’s efforts to understand data from scans and other diagnostic tests and those to care for flesh-and-blood patients.

Augmented surgery

In a cutting-edge use of augmented reality in medicine, doctors at Imperial College and St. Mary’s Hospital in London have been wearing Microsoft’s HoloLens AR glasses during reconstructive surgery on patients who have suffered severe leg injuries in traffic accidents.

“You look at the leg and essentially see inside of it,” says Dr. Philip Pratt, a medical research fellow at Imperial College. “You see the bones, the course of the blood vessels, and can identify exactly where the targets are located.”

Which technology device could be used to view a patients internal organs How will it be done?
a. CTA imaging showing the location of perforating arteries with yellow arrows. b. An example HoloLens rendering of segmented polygonal models.European Radiology Experimental 2018

Doctors often repair severe leg injuries with flaps of tissue taken from elsewhere on the body. Connecting it to blood vessels at the site of the wound helps fresh oxygen-carrying blood reach the new tissue and keep it alive.

Surgeons have typically used a handheld scanner to locate the major blood vessels near the wound. But the augmented reality system helped surgeons find those blood vessels directly, by highlighting them in the three-dimensional virtual image displayed in an AR headset.

“Augmented reality offers a new way to find these blood vessels under the skin accurately and quickly, by overlaying scan images onto the patient during the operation,” Pratt says.

Ultrasound through AR

Dr. Amitabh Varshney, director of the University of Maryland’s Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, and Dr. Sarah Murthi, an associate professor of surgery at the university’s medical school, have developed an AR system that displays real-time ultrasound data directly onto a patient’s body through an AR headset.

The system lets doctors see data from an ultrasound probe displayed directly on a patient’s body, rather than on a computer screen — providing a single unified view instead of forcing doctors to divide their attention between the patient and a screen.

Varshney sees this system and AR in general as fundamentally altering medical care for patients and doctors alike — especially as AR moves beyond its roots in gaming and entertainment. “This is definitely not a game anymore,” he says. “These tools present a historic opportunity to transform medicine and patient care.”

Which technology device could be used to view a patients internal organs How will it be done?

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Which technology device could be used to view a patients internal organs How will it be done?
MIT engineers designed an adhesive patch that produces ultrasound images of the body. | Photo source Felice Frankel
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  • Ultrasound stickers for mobile monitoring of internal organs

  • Which technology device could be used to view a patients internal organs How will it be done?

Health & Wellbeing

The stamp-sized devices provide continuous imaging of internal organs for up to 48 hours

Spotted: Although ultrasound imaging is a non-invasive way to view internal organs, the current probes used for this purpose are bulky and not well-suited for portable imaging. Researchers have therefore explored designs for stretchable ultrasound probes that could provide high-resolution images while being more compact and mobile. However, these probes have so far only been able to provide low-resolution images. Now, researchers at MIT have developed a new design that would make ultrasound technology not only accessible but also wearable. This would allow more people to benefit from safe and noninvasive imaging.

What the researchers at MIT have developed is what they called ‘an ultrasound sticker’ – a stamp-sized ultrasound device that can be applied directly to the skin. The device is able to provide continuous imaging of internal organs for up to 48 hours. The researchers applied the stickers to volunteers and showed that the devices can produce high-resolution images in real-time.

The device is made from two thin layers of elastomer and a middle layer of elastic and stretchy hydrogel that transmits the sound waves. At only 2 square centimeters wide and 3 millimeters thick, the sticker is pretty much the size of a postage stamp.

Unlike traditional imaging, the stickiness of the device allowed for the capture of changes in underlying organs during everyday activities and exercise. As a result, the technology has the potential to revolutionise the way we monitor organ function and could be used for a variety of medical applications.

Other health innovations we’ve spotted recently include an artificial intelligence (AI) powered clinical support tool that can diagnose common illnesses and improve clinician workflows, and hologram patients that help train doctors.  

Written By: Katrina Lane

18th August 2022

Website: web.mit.edu

Contact: web.mit.edu/contact

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Which technology could be used to view a patients internal organs?

Augmented reality (AR) technologies that blend computer-generated images and data from MRI and CT scans with real-world views are making it possible for doctors to “see under the skin” of their patients to visualize bones, muscles, and internal organs without having to cut open a body.

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