| The Computer-Integrated
Surgical Systems and Technology (CISST) Engineering Research Center (ERC),
at Johns Hopkins University, has a number of clinical partners that not
only test systems developed at Johns Hopkins but also develop technologies
related to the Center’s work. For example, new software developed
by the Surgical Planning Lab at Brigham and Women's Hospital adds several
modules that improve the ability to group functions related to one specific
device. The system, called NaviTrack, is a separate library that builds
on OpenTracker and uses a data-flow graph to help store or play back files
in an XML format within the OpenTracker interface. NaviTrack allows OpenTracker
to work with a range of popular medical tracking systems, including optical
trackers that can be mounted on surgical tools (Flashpoint); electromagnetic
trackers with miniature sensors (NDI Aurora); optical trackers using passive
reflective spheres or active LEDS (NDI Polaris); electromagnetic tracking
for MRI environments (EndoScout); and robots that source position and orientation
information about its attached tool (NeuroRobot).
Two additional modules were
developed to work with medical imaging systems. The Terason is a portable
ultrasound system that provides events containing ultrasound images and
the GE Excite is an additional module that works as a GPS-like device for
MRI machines, giving real-time position and orientation of a scan plane. |
