New Technologies Supporting Surgical Interventions and Training of Surgical Skills: A Look at Projects in Europe Supporting Minimally Invasive Techniques

Feasibility of noncontact piezoelectric detection of photoacoustic signals in tissue-mimicking phantoms

The feasibility of air-coupled ultrasound transducers to detect laser-induced ultrasound from artificial blood vessels embedded in an optically scattering phantom is demonstrated. These air-coupled transducers allow new applications in biomedical photoacoustic imaging where contact with tissue is not preferred. One promising application of such...

Retracting and seeking movements during laparoscopic goal-oriented movements. Is the shortest path length optimal?

Aims- Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) requires a high degree of eye–hand coordination from the surgeon. To facilitate the learning process, objective assessment systems based on analysis of the instruments’ motion are being developed. To investigate the influence of performance on motion characteristics, we examined goaloriented movements in a...