Description

Minimally invasive ultrasound-guided procedures are a mainstay of modern medicine and the number of such procedures continues to grow. Safe, efficient, and precise execution of these procedures requires a clear visualization of the target anatomy and the interventional device (e.g., a needle). While sustained advances in ultrasound technology have led to greatly enhanced visualization of the anatomy and the needle with high image quality, hand-eye coordination of the practitioner continues to be a challenge. In order to properly position the interventional device, the practitioner must alternate their attention between observing the patient, advancing the needle, and viewing the ultrasound image on a separate screen. This study's long-term goal is to develop an advanced visualization platform for ultrasound-guided procedures to overcome this challenge by greatly simplifying hand-eye coordination. The proposed platform will be developed using the latest advances in the augmented reality (AR) technology. Through wearable, see-through AR glasses, the platform will create a virtual display placed in the practitioner's field of view to show live ultrasound images, registered with the transducer and the patient, in the form of a hologram. The investigative team hypothesizes that such visualization will reduce the time of procedure by 20%. This study is aimed providing the practitioner a more intuitive and efficient platform to perform ultrasound-guided procedures and demonstrating improved efficiency through user studies.