Hand Gestures Used in the OR to Manipulate MRI Images

A new application may soon be used by surgeons in the operating room (OR) that recognizes hand gestures as commands to instruct a computer to browse and display medical images of the patient during a surgery.

Surgeons typically need to review medical images and records during surgery, but stepping away from the operating table and touching a keyboard and mouse can interrupt the procedure and increase the risk of spreading infection-causing bacteria, according to Dr. Juan Pablo Wachs, an assistant professor of industrial engineering at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN, USA). “One of the most ubiquitous pieces of equipment in US surgical units is the computer workstation, which allows access to medical images before and during surgery,” he said. “However, computers and their peripherals are difficult to sterilize, and keyboards and mice have been found to be a source of contamination. Also, when nurses or assistants operate the keyboard for the surgeon, the process of conveying information accurately has proven cumbersome and inefficient since spoken dialogue can be time-consuming and leads to frustration and delays in the surgery.”

Researchers are creating a system that uses depth-sensing cameras and specialized algorithms to recognize hand gestures as commands to manipulate magnetic resonance (MR) images on a large display. Recent research to develop the algorithms has been led by doctoral student Mithun George Jacob.

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