Researchers: Charlotta Johnsson, in collaboration with Kiet Tran Skånes universitetsjukhus Lund, Jonas Unger, Linköping University, Christer Mårtensson Business Region Skåne

Start date: 2016-09

End-date: 2017-04

Funding: Vinnova - UDI (Utmaningsdriven innovation)

The live surgical field, as the surgeon visually perceives it, contains invaluable image information needed for surgical training, clinical consultations and support the development of surgical robots. How ever, access to the surgeon's view of the reality is highly restricted because there are currently no technical solutions to collect, reproduce, and share this 3-D image information. At the present, only the surgeon can see the organs and pathologies that need surgical attention.

The goal of this project is to develop technical solutions to collect image data during open heart surgery, and to reproduce 3-D heart models that can be used for education, clinical consultations, and in the future advance the development of autonomous robotic systems. The overall goal is to achieve increased safety and quality in surgical care.

Components that will be developed:
1. A camera system for collection of 3-D video images.
2. A platform for interactive visualisation of the surgical field.
3. A database that within 3 years will collect data from 5000-10000 surgical cases, for use in machine learning algorithms, augmented reality, and, ultimately robotic surgery.