As
part of the continuing partnership between the Medical College
of Georgia, the Biomedical Interactive Technology Center, and IMTC;
the remote
palpation project seeks to allow doctors to
examine
patients at a remote location using telecommunications, as well
as documenting certain palpation properties of the patient. IMTC
has developed and patented a haptic lens - a sensor that is capable
of documenting a 3D surface under a specific pressure. The image
below shows surface mapping of a key and finger using the device.
As
the device is slowly pressed against an object (body part), 3D
surfaces, deforming under the applied pressure, are recorded
in real-time
along with the instantaneous pressure. Using this data, a "hardness
image" or compliance map can be assembled from individual 3D
surfaces recorded at the different pressures. This helps in objectively
documenting the minute differences between adjacent tissues' compliances
(such as documenting a cyst on or near the surface). Preliminary
PC-based software has been generated by Andrew Quay and Peter Presti
of IMTC to be able to visualize the 3D surface in real-time, using
a mouse to manipulate the viewing angle as well as the lighting.
SIGGRAPH ‘97 Technical Sketch
click on a thumnail below for a larger view (JPG: 640 x 480)
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3-D surface visualization
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