News Section | Developmental Biology
Soon, surgeons can ‘feel’ tumours during keyhole surgery
A Leeds University study has combined computer virtualisation with a device that simulates pressure on a surgeon”s hand when touching human tissue remotely.
This tactile feedback technology could give keyhole surgeons a virtual sense of “feeling” tumours while operating and could enable a medic to handle a tumour robotically, and judge if it is malignant or benign.
Cancer specialists hope the new system will help to improve future treatment.
The team of undergraduates at Leeds University has devised a solution that combines a computer-generated virtual simulation with a hand-held “haptic” feedback device.
The system works by varying feedback pressure on the user”s hand when the density of the tissue being examined changes.
“You move the device around and, just like your computer mouse, it moves around the virtual 3D surface,” BBC News quoted engineering student Earle Jamieson as saying.
“The computer sends a signal to the device to tell it the force you are applying. You can actually feel the response forces you would have felt on your hand,” added Jamieson.
The project has just been declared one of four top student designs in a global competition run by US technology firm National Instruments.
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