Marc de Groot (marc@kg6kf.AMPR.ORG) (02/06/90)
A friend of mine just mailed this to me. His name is Dr. Gary Evans. He is a pediatrician who recently got a demo of virtual reality at VPL Research. His Internet e-mail addresses: gary%n6paw@kg6kf.ampr.org sparkgap@UCBCMSA.BERKELEY.EDU Hi Marc, I was on call last night and in attending to millions of things I had the occassion to daydream about potential medical applications of artif. reality: One of the trickier things in medicine is imaging complex structures such as the heart. It occurred to me that using noninvasive techniques such as ultrasound, nuclear magnetic resonance and x-rays (CT scanning modes) and using algorithms (already existent -- that reconstruct three dimensional images and project them onto 2D planes) one could do marvelous things with artificial reality. Think of it: a scan is made of the heart and its associated vascularity. The examiner wearing the appropriate data glove and visor reaches out and moves aside a large blood vessel or organ that had been obsuring the view of a structure behind it ... or, another example - the examiner could reach right in to a chamber of the heart and manipulate a valve to look at its attachments to the cardiac wall all in full 3D. The potentials are endless!! Gary.
hlr@well.UUCP (Howard Rheingold) (02/06/90)
Marc de Groot (marc@kg6kf.AMPR.ORG) writes: >A friend of mine just mailed this to me. His name is Dr. Gary Evans. He >is a pediatrician who recently got a demo of virtual reality at VPL Research. >... > One of the trickier things in medicine is imaging complex structures such > as the heart. It occurred to me that using noninvasive techniques such as > ultrasound, nuclear magnetic resonance and x-rays (CT scanning modes) and > using algorithms (already existent -- that reconstruct three dimensional > images and project them onto 2D planes) one could do marvelous things with > artificial reality. I saw some pretty exciting applications of VR technology to medical imaging at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They are working with radiologists on radiation treatment planning. There are several projects on volumetric rendering and 3D imaging going on there. Steven Pizer is, I believe, one of the principals. If there is anybody from UNC reading this newsgroup, could you briefly describe this research (perhaps cite relevant publications?) -- Howard Rheingold hlr@well.sf.ca.us >>what it is is up to us<< -- Howard Rheingold hlr@well.sf.ca.us >>what it is is up to us<<