Virtual interactive presence for real-time, long-distance surgical collaboration during complex microsurgical procedures

2014 ◽  
Vol 121 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahesh B. Shenai ◽  
R. Shane Tubbs ◽  
Barton L. Guthrie ◽  
Aaron A. Cohen-Gadol

Object The shortage of surgeons compels the development of novel technologies that geographically extend the capabilities of individual surgeons and enhance surgical skills. The authors have developed “Virtual Interactive Presence” (VIP), a platform that allows remote participants to simultaneously view each other's visual field, creating a shared field of view for real-time surgical telecollaboration. Methods The authors demonstrate the capability of VIP to facilitate long-distance telecollaboration during cadaveric dissection. Virtual Interactive Presence consists of local and remote workstations with integrated video capture devices and video displays. Each workstation mutually connects via commercial teleconferencing devices, allowing worldwide point-to-point communication. Software composites the local and remote video feeds, displaying a hybrid perspective to each participant. For demonstration, local and remote VIP stations were situated in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Birmingham, Alabama, respectively. A suboccipital craniotomy and microsurgical dissection of the pineal region was performed in a cadaveric specimen using VIP. Task and system performance were subjectively evaluated, while additional video analysis was used for objective assessment of delay and resolution. Results Participants at both stations were able to visually and verbally interact while identifying anatomical structures, guiding surgical maneuvers, and discussing overall surgical strategy. Video analysis of 3 separate video clips yielded a mean compositing delay of 760 ± 606 msec (when compared with the audio signal). Image resolution was adequate to visualize complex intracranial anatomy and provide interactive guidance. Conclusions Virtual Interactive Presence is a feasible paradigm for real-time, long-distance surgical telecollaboration. Delay, resolution, scaling, and registration are parameters that require further optimization, but are within the realm of current technology. The paradigm potentially enables remotely located experts to mentor less experienced personnel located at the surgical site with applications in surgical training programs, remote proctoring for proficiency, and expert support for rural settings and across different counties.

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 51 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Baranchuk ◽  
G. Dagnone ◽  
P. Fowler ◽  
M. N. Harrison ◽  
L. Lisnevskaia ◽  
...  

Electrocardiography (ECG) interpretation is an essential skill for physicians as well as for many other health care professionals. Continuing education is necessary to maintain these skills. The process of teaching and learning ECG interpretation is complex and involves both deductive mechanisms and recognition of patterns for different clinical situations (“pattern recognition”). The successful methodologies of interactive sessions and real time problem based learning have never been evaluated with a long distance education model. To evaluate the efficacy of broadcasting ECG rounds to different hospitals in the Southeastern Ontario region; to perform qualitative research to determine the impact of this methodology in developing and maintaining skills in ECG interpretation. ECG rounds are held weekly at Kingston General Hospital and will be transmitted live to Napanee, Belleville, Oshawa, Peterborough and Brockville. The teaching methodology is based on real ECG cases. The audience is invited to analyze the ECG case and the coordinator will introduce comments to guide the case through the proper algorithm. Final interpretation will be achieved emphasizing the deductive process and the relevance of each case. An evaluation will be filled out by each participant at the end of each session. Videoconferencing works through a vast array of internet LANs, WANs, ISDN phone lines, routers, switches, firewalls and Codecs (Coder/Decoder) and bridges. A videoconference Codec takes the analog audio and video signal codes and compresses it into a digital signal and transmits that digital signal to another Codec where the signal is decompressed and retranslated back into analog video and audio. This compression and decompression allows large amounts of data to be transferred across a network at close to real time (384 kbps with 30 frames of video per second). Videoconferencing communication works on voice activation so whichever site is speaking has the floor and is seen by all the participating sites. A continuous presence mode allows each site to have the same visual and audio involvement as the host site. A bridged multipoint can connect between 8 and 12 sites simultaneously. This innovative methodology for teaching ECG will facilitate access to developing and maintaining skills in ECG interpretation for a large number of health care providers. Bertsch TF, Callas PW, Rubin A. Effectiveness of lectures attended via interactive video conferencing versus in-person in preparing third-year internal medicine clerkship students for clinical practice examinations. Teach Learn Med 2007; 19(1):4-8. Yellowlees PM, Hogarth M, Hilty DM. The importance of distributed broadband networks to academic biomedical research and education programs. Acad Psychaitry 2006;30:451-455


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-30
Author(s):  
So Yeon Jeon ◽  
Jong Hwa Park ◽  
Sang Byung Youn ◽  
Young Soo Kim ◽  
Yong Sung Lee ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Parastoo Soleimani ◽  
David W. Capson ◽  
Kin Fun Li

AbstractThe first step in a scale invariant image matching system is scale space generation. Nonlinear scale space generation algorithms such as AKAZE, reduce noise and distortion in different scales while retaining the borders and key-points of the image. An FPGA-based hardware architecture for AKAZE nonlinear scale space generation is proposed to speed up this algorithm for real-time applications. The three contributions of this work are (1) mapping the two passes of the AKAZE algorithm onto a hardware architecture that realizes parallel processing of multiple sections, (2) multi-scale line buffers which can be used for different scales, and (3) a time-sharing mechanism in the memory management unit to process multiple sections of the image in parallel. We propose a time-sharing mechanism for memory management to prevent artifacts as a result of separating the process of image partitioning. We also use approximations in the algorithm to make hardware implementation more efficient while maintaining the repeatability of the detection. A frame rate of 304 frames per second for a $$1280 \times 768$$ 1280 × 768 image resolution is achieved which is favorably faster in comparison with other work.


Author(s):  
Yuewei Lin ◽  
Dmitri Zakharov ◽  
Remi Megret ◽  
Shinjae Yoo ◽  
Eric Stach

mSphere ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Pennington ◽  
Gerlinde R. Van de Walle

ABSTRACT Alphaherpesviruses, including those that commonly infect humans, such as HSV-1 and HSV-2, typically infect and cause cellular damage to epithelial cells at mucosal surfaces, leading to disease. The development of novel technologies to study the cellular responses to infection may allow a more complete understanding of virus replication and the creation of novel antiviral therapies. This study demonstrates the use of ECIS to study various aspects of herpesvirus biology, with a specific focus on changes in cellular morphology as a result of infection. We conclude that ECIS represents a valuable new tool with which to study alphaherpesvirus infections in real time and in an objective and reproducible manner. Electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) measures changes in an electrical circuit formed in a culture dish. As cells grow over a gold electrode, they block the flow of electricity and this is read as an increase in electrical impedance in the circuit. ECIS has previously been used in a variety of applications to study cell growth, migration, and behavior in response to stimuli in real time and without the need for cellular labels. Here, we demonstrate that ECIS is also a valuable tool with which to study infection by alphaherpesviruses. To this end, we used ECIS to study the kinetics of cells infected with felid herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1), a close relative of the human alphaherpesviruses herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2, and compared the results to those obtained with conventional infectivity assays. First, we demonstrated that ECIS can easily distinguish between wells of cells infected with different amounts of FHV-1 and provides information about the cellular response to infection. Second, we found ECIS useful in identifying differences between the replication kinetics of recombinant DsRed Express2-labeled FHV-1, created via CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering, and wild-type FHV-1. Finally, we demonstrated that ECIS can accurately determine the half-maximal effective concentration of antivirals. Collectively, our data show that ECIS, in conjunction with current methodologies, is a powerful tool that can be used to monitor viral growth and study the cellular response to alphaherpesvirus infection. IMPORTANCE Alphaherpesviruses, including those that commonly infect humans, such as HSV-1 and HSV-2, typically infect and cause cellular damage to epithelial cells at mucosal surfaces, leading to disease. The development of novel technologies to study the cellular responses to infection may allow a more complete understanding of virus replication and the creation of novel antiviral therapies. This study demonstrates the use of ECIS to study various aspects of herpesvirus biology, with a specific focus on changes in cellular morphology as a result of infection. We conclude that ECIS represents a valuable new tool with which to study alphaherpesvirus infections in real time and in an objective and reproducible manner.


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