KISMET Medical Applications

Overview

• Development of a Virtual Reality abdominal surgery training system. We have developed simulation techniques which allow the modelling of "virtual tissue" based on a data-model which reflects the physical characteristics like mass, stiffness and damping of real tissue. A collision test algorithm detects contact between surgical instruments and the virtual organs.
  As a by-product, contact forces between the tissue and the instrument end-effector are calculated which can be used to drive a force-reflecting surgeon interface
  Download Quicktime movie (sound in German, 10.33 MBytes !)

  Valuable lessons learned from the R&D work on the Cholocestectomy trainer are beeing transferred now into the development of the Virtual Endoscopic Surgery Trainer for Gynaecology

• 3D-simulation support during the design of new surgical instruments and manipulator(s)
  Download Quicktime movie (sound in German, 15.195 MBytes !). The animation sequences were done in KISMET.

• Operation room scenario simulation
• Realtime visualisation of voxel-volume data (from CT-/MRI scanners) using 3D-texturing techniques
• High-quality 3D-models of the human abdominal anatomy have been created
• KISMET is integrated in the ARTEMIS (Advanced Robot and Telemanipulator System for Minimally Invasive Surgery) control system for MIS instrument and endoscope guidance as a 3D-graphical online position monitoring system.

• Surgical instruments design support
• Telemedicine/Telesurgery console design
• Surgical animations
• Surgical planning
• Documentation and presentation support
• Endoscopic surgery training core software
• Deformable tissue simulation
• Realtime voxel-volume visualisation

Application Images

Karlsruhe Endoscopic Surgery Trainer (516x768 jpg, 32k)

The MIS-Trainer is described more detailed here.

You can find even more photographs of the MIS-Trainer here.

Model of Human Anatomy (639x511 gif, 190k)
Such models are used as a basis for the surgery trainer. The organs are modelled as B-Spline surfaces (modelled by DSL/Rottendburg, FRG) using the SOFTIMAGE software. The models are then converted to KISMET NURBS geometry.

Converted CT dataset of human skull (1278x1022 jpg, 133k)
Another model generation approach is the conversion of CT-, MRI-, MRA-datasets from voxel-volumes to polygonal surfaces. The skull was generated using Marching-Cubes segmentation (Lorensen et.al.). This works well for bone anatomy.

Realtime Volume Rendering
Another approach to visualize volume datasets in realtime is to use hardware supported volume rendering techniques without preliminary conversion into polyhedral surface models. The methods we use and recent results are explained in more detail on this page.

Futuristic (tele)surgery room (500x400 gif, 127k)

Endoscopic Instrument Design Support (639x511 jpg, 40k)

Elastodynamic Tissue Modelling (640x432 gif, 35k)

Endoscopic Surgery Training, Overview (639x511 jpg, 26k)
The KISMET image shows an "outside" view of the surgery trainer scenario with simulated camera view (upper left viewport). KISMET allows as well for model based camera tracking. The camera viewing area is displayed as a pyramidal shape.

Colecystectomy Training, Endo-View (639x511 jpg, 19k)

Related Publications:

• U.G. Kühnapfel et. al.: "CAD-BASED SIMULATION AND MODELLING FOR ENDOSCOPIC SURGERY",
  Proceedings SMIT'94; Oct. 1-4, 1994; Berlin, FRG (1994)
  Postscript Document, 1,715 Mbytes !!

• U.G. Kühnapfel et. al.: "Endosurgery Simulations with KISMET: A flexible tool for Surgical Instrument Design, Operation Room Planning and VR Technology based Abdominal Surgery Training", Proceedings VR'95 WORLD Conference, Feb. 21-23 1995, Stuttgart, FRG (1995)
  Postscript Document, 95 kBytes

Back to KISMET homepage