Augmented Reality Tech Lets Doctors See Under Your Skin

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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While we have been waiting for a really good pair of X-Ray glasses that let you see under people's clothes, ProjectDR has skipped past the clothes and now is touting technology that will let doctors see under your skin. ProjectDR lets previous performed CT and MRI scans to be displayed on the patient's body in real time using a projector. Details on the hardware being used were not fully disclosed but it noted using infrared cameras with tracking points on the patient's body. Considering that my health insurance went up to over $26,000 a year, I am considering buying some high priced GPUs and learning to do my own surgery at home.

Check out the video.

ProjectDR is an augmented reality system that allows medical images such as CT scans and MRI data to be displayed directly on a patient’s body in a way that moves as the patient does.
 
This is the future IMO. While VR is cool in many aspects...AR is better in many other, especially for collaborative work or delicate work. When they found the new chamber in the pyramid...most of the discussions done by the leading minds was done in AR. Imagine for surgery if a doctor could actually look at his patient as he is operating the robot vs staring at a screen giving him a 2D image.
 
i would really like to explain/play around with a full 3d model of a body in VR. only in that way can you really get an idea of the intricacies of all the systems working together.
 
"ProjectDR lets previous performed CT and MRI scans to be displayed on the patient's body in real time using a projector."

previous is not real time

"Details on the hardware being used were not fully disclosed but it noted using infrared cameras with tracking points on the patient's body"

Seems like there's a plethora of "I have a great idea, now we just have to figure out how to do it' these days.
Can we please get a demonstration of product with the press release?
 
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Very cool use of AR. I had to visit the good ol' cardiologist last year and they were using a new ultrasound imaging system from GE. It was kind of like what they are showing here. The tech was wearing goggles, but I could see (non 3d) some of what she saw on a screen. Much better than the normal blobs you see on ultrasounds. The 3D scans they do of fetuses are really cool as well - we saw this with one of my kids. You could see a lot of details on their face.

Back to self surgery, I have done minor repairs. Sometimes, an Exacto knife, superglue, and chloraseptic can save you a few bucks in medical bills :)
 
you still need doctors with proper training to interpret the images, is that a cyst or a solid tumour?
 
As long as they don't try to operate on a patient with AR i think it would be good. I wouldn't trust the accuracy of the projected image in conjunction with where the precise location of the organs and other tissues are.
 
This is similar to a technology I worked on several years ago -- the Luminetx VeinViewer -- which scans and overlays an image of a patients veins onto their arm in realtime for use in venipuncture, just way more advanced. Pretty cool stuff really. Honestly, considering that I worked on the VeinViewer back around 2006 (before they got acquired by ChristieMed in '09), I'm really surprised it has taken this long for something of this nature to show up.
 
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Since this projects previously done MRI on to the patient's body, I don't really see the point. Why not just view the MRI directly? How does projecting it onto the patient improve anything? If it was you know real xray-vision on the spot sure, but this isn't that.
I suppose it could show a surgeon where to cut, but dang if they need a guide like this, I don't want 'em to be my surgeon.
 
WhoMe said:
Since this projects previously done MRI on to the patient's body, I don't really see the point. Why not just view the MRI directly? How does projecting it onto the patient improve anything? If it was you know real xray-vision on the spot sure, but this isn't that.
I suppose it could show a surgeon where to cut, but dang if they need a guide like this, I don't want 'em to be my surgeon.
Click to expand...
My thought too.
 
WhoMe said:
Since this projects previously done MRI on to the patient's body, I don't really see the point. Why not just view the MRI directly? How does projecting it onto the patient improve anything? If it was you know real xray-vision on the spot sure, but this isn't that.
I suppose it could show a surgeon where to cut, but dang if they need a guide like this, I don't want 'em to be my surgeon.
Click to expand...

In some cases, showing a surgeon exactly where to cut would be a very useful thing. No two human bodies are exactly the same. Having an overlay that showed with at least relative accuracy the actual position of organs, blood vessels, etc. could potentially make many surgeries less risky simply by being able to see where NOT to cut. Additionally, in some surgeries where time is critical (due to restricted blood flow, time on bypass, etc) or the visual field is restricted, having this type of visual aid could be very valuable in guiding a surgeon to more quickly complete their task with less risk of injury to adjacent organs, etc.
 
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that's one fine nsfw mannequin.

Little gimmicks like this are used on the whale patients (high spenders) for specialty health care. There was a dentist in our town that was the first to have high def cameras for the patients mouth with monitors overhead so that they could view what the dentist was doing at every little poke and buff. Lets just say he has the best landscaping out of any business in our area by a substantial margin from the cash pouring in.

Private doctors and patients that expect a modern experience will eat this up.
 
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