BIA-Brukerstyrt innovasjonsarena

There is a tremendous development in different minimally invasive cardiac procedures and this is driving a need for a more effective visualisation to improve patient safety and speed of procedures. The idea behind the project is that holographic 3D visual isation of real-time 3D ultrasound data will create a foundation for novel systems to guide interventional cardiac procedures, as well as diagnosis and treatment planning. Such systems will allow the world's first real-time natural view of a beating heart , which in turn will enable innovative ways to perform these procedures. Norwegian ultrasound research is world class and the project has collected key players including Setred (3D display technology), GE Vingmed (world leader in cardiac ultrasound), Chr istian Michelsen Research (Medical visualisation) as well as leading research hospitals OUS and Karolinska. A successful project would result in unique knowledge and products worldwide. The socio-economic effects are expected to be significant through le ss patient complications and better outcome for a large patient group with heart diseases. The project will conduct two clinical studies in order to verify the benefits. Compared to visualisation on a 2D display, Setred's 3D display requires processing b etween 25 and 50 times more data per frame. This has to be processed at a rate that meets the requirements for guiding interventional procedures. This will require new thinking along the whole pipeline from image acquisition, image transfer, rendering eng ine to display electronics. The graphics processing methods used today for 3D ultrasound are inadequate. 3D ultrasound data differs from CT and MRI in a number of aspects and it is expected that tailored processing methods would provide an improved visua lisation. In addition, the holographic 3D display will add additional complexity and unknown aspects that will require research on novel processing schemes and methods to obtain an acceptable result.