Improvement and development of SurgicAR: an intraoperatory Augmented Reality application for Hospital del Mar

Abstract

In the last decades, the increasing development of novel computer-based technologies has led to the introduction of striking innovations in many fields of medicine. Yet, while imaging has radically evolved, how images are displayed is basically the same as it was in the 1950s. Visual data is shown on a 2D flat screen, therefore surgeons have to use skill to mentally reconstruct the images seen in monitors into the architecture of the patient. To facilitate anatomical understanding and to plan and optimize surgical procedures, 3D virtual reconstructions of the organs of interest can be created and displayed using immersive technology. The aim of this thesis is to improve and develop an existing preliminary version of an Augmented Reality application, called SurgicAR, based in the Radiology department of Hospital del Mar. This application is thought as a helping tool for the daily use in the operating rooms, allowing surgeons to visualize and interact with patient-specific 3D models and other data, as medical scans or animations (it enables their rotation, movement and zooming), before and during surgery. The improvements focused on the generated 3D model, the fiducial marker recognition, obtaining and sterilizing the target object and the digital assets shown in the application. SurgicAR is user-friendly, economic and intuitive; the user opens the application in his smartphone, the camera automatically turns on and he can see and control the digital asset shown on the screen, a 3D model, for example, by moving the physical or virtually displayed target.