IMMR Medical developing cardiac catheterization simulation technology

cellodude from the IV MB:

>>IMMR Medical developing cardiac catheterization simulation technology

Despite the dubious title of a recent patent application by IMMR, "Simulation Of Coupled Objects," the contents reveal that IMMR Medical is branching out from laparoscopic simulation into the world of cardiology including catheters, guide wires, stents and fluoroscopy. What is the difference between the two kinds of surgery?

[BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0002]The growth of minimally invasive therapies has led to a growing interest in the potential for computer-based simulation for training. Many computer-based medical simulators have been designed to teach these new techniques. Most of these efforts have focused on laparoscopic surgery, in which rigid tools are inserted into the patient's abdomen and visual feedback is provided by an endoscopic camera that produces a high-definition color image. These simulators are predominantly skills trainers, emphasizing the two-dimensional hand-eye coordination practice that is useful for laparoscopic surgery.

[0003]Interventional cardiology shares characteristics with other minimally invasive therapies that make it suitable for simulator-based learning: it requires complex understanding of three-dimensional anatomy from two-dimensional displays and fine hand-eye coordination. As with surgery, complications from improperly performed cardiac catheterization can have catastrophic results. Thus, there is a strong need for simulator based training before an actual procedure is attempted.

[0004]However, interventional cardiology simulation presents unique challenges. First, visual feedback is not provided by visible light but by fluoroscopy, which must be simulated in real time while allowing for changes in points of view as the fluoroscope moves around the patient. Second, the catheters, guide wires, and stents are flexible devices and therefore must be modeled as deformable objects, which is not the case for rigid laparoscopic tools. To control the motion of a catheter or guide wire within the vascular network, the physician can only push, pull or twist the proximal end of the device. Since such devices are constrained inside the patient's vasculature, it is the combination of input forces and contact forces that allow them to be moved toward a target.]

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The rest of the document explains the new technology which mimics the forces arising from the interaction of flexible surgical tools and the body. Extremely complicated math is used to model graphics and feedback forces.