Catherine Mohr is quite an incredible women. She is both an engineer and a medical doctor. She combines these two fields with her great inventions which help advance surgery. Take a look at her TED Talk in which she presents the newest robotic tools for surgery, but also remembers the beginnings of this art/craft/science.
1 CommentTag: surgery
OK, here is what you do.
- Watch the video below.
- Visit lomography.com/kikuyu and save a person’s eyesight for only 30 dollars.
Professor Abraham Katzir and his colleagues from the Physics Department at the Tel Aviv University in Israel have developed a laser which could one day replace surgical stitches. The machine is still in its early stages of development, but looks quite promising.
You will learn more by watching the video from Reuters below.
The video got you interested, so go on and learn even more about their Laser Tissue Bonding project.
Via DVICE.
2 CommentsThis is a game for the iPhone for which I wanted to do a video review, but I see that others have already done it, so I will just embed their video.
Here is a description of this game:
Prepare to go micro! You are Dr. Awesome, the world’s most popular microsurgeon. A deadly strain of virus is attacking the population and you are tasked to defeat it before time runs out!
You must perform microsurgery to isolate and eradicate the mutagens that have infected your friends, personalized from your contact list. Cut and trap the offending viruses with your accelerometer-guided micro scalpel, avoid disruptive virus counter attacks and collect various power-ups to succeed. You’ll need a need steady hand to be the best!
So, the game doesn’t make any sense from a medical perspective. You are a surgeon cutting cells with some kind of micro laser ??!!##?? to kill the viruses. Although, Rocket Scientist’s Laser Scalpel Targets Individual Cells article from Wired got me thinking. One cool feature of this game is that it incorporates with your contact list on the phone, so your friends become your patients. Scary.
Take a look at the video review:
Dr. Awesome iPhone Review from Kevin Rose on Vimeo.
Apple brings a story of professor Maki Sugimoto of Teikyo University Chiba Medical Center, a gastrointestinal surgeon, who wanted a better approach to navigation for planning and performing both aggressive and minimally invasive surgeries. He uses Apple computers with OsiriX imaging software to project 3D images onto a patient’s abdomen for both laparoscopic and midline open surgery.
Laparoscopic surgery
For patients with early-stage gastric or colonic cancer, the surgical team typically opts for minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery. With the patient anesthetized, Sugimoto projects OsiriX-generated 3D images onto the body surface of the patient with an Epson EMP-1715 projector. Using a motion-sensing wireless remote, Sugimoto uses physiological markers (such as the navel) to register the image to the patient’s body. Then using a Color Look Up Table (CLUT) feature in OsiriX, he makes the skin of the image transparent. The display now shows the patient’s internal body parts and the area that he will need to operate on.
Open surgery
“The 3D visualization shows us relationships between the cancer and the arterial vessels and other surrounding organs,” says Sugimoto. “It also allows us to see the extent of the spread of cancer. When a patient has upper biliary (bile duct) cancer, we have to cut the liver. If the patient has lower bile duct cancer we have to remove the pancreatic head and duodenum. The HBP system is very complex; that’s why 3D visualization in the OR is so crucial. When doing a midline open surgery, the surgeon can only see the organs from the top. With OsiriX on the Mac, surgeons can rotate and see the surrounding organs in 3D to guide them during surgery.
Visit Apple to learn more and see more pictures and videos.
Image credits – Apple Inc.
1 CommentModality has just released their two new educational apps for the iPhone. They started with fantastic Netter’s anatomy flash cards and now they moved on to one of the most respected step-by-step guides to general surgery procedures, Zollinger’s Atlas of Surgical Operations. Zollinger’s Atlas of Surgical Operations consists of several parts devoted to gastrointestinal, miscellaneous abdominal, vascular, gynecologic and additional procedures. So far Modality has released upper and lower gastrointestinal procedures.
Here is what they say….
The classic guide to general surgery procedures is now available for the iPhone and iPod touch. Based on the renowned Eighth Edition as available on AccessSurgery, Zollinger’s iPhone applications allow you to access step-by-step instructions and superb line drawings for numerous general surgical procedures. Some procedures also include fully-narrated, slideshow presentations outlining each step in the procedure, from Intro and Indications through Post-Operative Care.
Using the intuitive iPhone interface, you can navigate through detailed images with the flick of a finger, pinch to zoom, and tap to read easy-to-follow instructions for each procedure.
Procedures included in these two apps….
Gastrointestinal: Upper:
• Closure of Perforation—Subphrenic Abscess
• Enteroenterostomy, Stapled
• Enterostomy
• Fundoplication
• Fundoplication, Laparoscopic*
• Gastrectomy, Hofmeister Method
• Gastrectomy, Polya Method
• Gastrectomy, Subtotal
• Gastrectomy, Subtotal—Omentectomy
• Gastrojejunostomy*
• Gastrostomy*
• Hemigastrectomy, Billroth I Method
• Hemigastrectomy, Billroth I Stapled
• Hemigastrectomy, Billroth II, Stapled
• Laparotomy, the Closure
• Laparotomy, the Opening
• Loop Ileostomy*
• Meckel’s Diverticulectomy
• Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy—PEG*
• Pyloromyotomy—Intussusception
• Pyloroplasty, Stapled
• Pyloroplasty—Gastroduodenostomy
• Resection of Small Intestine
• Resection of Small Intestine, Stapled
• Resection of Small Intestine, Stapled (Alternative Methods)
• Roux-en-Y Gastrojejunostomy
• Total Gastrectomy
• Total Gastrectomy, Stapled
• Vagotomy
• Vagotomy, Subdiaphragmatic Approach
• Zenker’s Diverticulectomy
• Anatomy of the Large IntestineGastrointestinal: Lower:
• Abdominoperineal Resection
• Abdominoperineal Resection, Total Mesorectal Excision
• Abdominoperineal Resection—Perineal Resection
• Anterior Resection of Rectosigmoid: End-to-End Anastomosis*
• Anterior Resection of Rectosigmoid: Side-to-End Anastomosis (Baker)*
• Anterior Resection, Stapled
• Appendectomy*
• Appendectomy, Laparoscopic*
• Closure of Colostomy
• Colectomy, Left, End-to-End Anastomosis*
• Colectomy, Right*
• Colon Anastomosis, Stapled
• Drainage of Ischiorectal Abscess—Excision of Fistula in Ano
• Ileoanal Anastomosis
• Surgical Anatomy of Large Intestine
• Total Colectomy*
• Transverse Colostomy*
• Excision of Pilonidal Sinus
• Injection and Excision of Hemorrhoids
• Rectal Prolapse, Perineal Repair*
First thing I noticed is that these apps are very large. They have 264 and 140 MB. Also, they are a bit pricey. Each costs 34.99 dollars. The whole book would cost you 180 dollars at Amazon.com. It is up to you to decide, but there is no denying that Zollinger’s Atlas looks great on the iPhone and is, of course, so much cooler, among other things. Imagine how your next date will be impressed when you show her how to perform Anterior Resection of Rectosigmoid just before the movie. OK maybe not, but your geek surgery residence friends sure will.
Here are some photos.
Scalpel in one hand, sterilized iPhone in the other, and start cutting.
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