Scientific Methods
The research group “Scientific Methods” focuses on the development of modular surgical assist systems based on a rigorous analysis of surgical workflows. In 2007, the development of methodology for the recording and analysis of surgical workflows has been finished and was successfully to numerous surgical procedures. The ICCAS database of interventions covers more than 300 surgical interventions of different surgical disciplines, which were acquired in Germany, France, and the United States. Ontologies play a crucial role in providing a meaning to the recorded procedures and terms. Based on the work on Surgical Workflows, the spin-off SWAN – Scientific Workflow Analysis GmbH was founded in January 2007.
The development of a modular system architecture “Therapy Imaging and Model Management System” (TIMMS) requires a Patient Model and a standardized communication infrastructure to transport and interact with such a model. The research group built a prototype for surgical assistance systems and proposed the developed elements of a patient model to the international standardization committee for the use in the Surgical DICOM (S-DICOM) standard.
S-PACS/Mechatronik
The main research topic of the research group “S-PACS/Mechatronik” is the development of the “surgical cockpit”. Therefore, a demonstrator was developed during the year 2007. The demonstrator includes the most important system components for an operating theatre of the future: (1) central display and interaction panel, (2) surgical assist systems like navigation, and „Navigated Control“ as well as (3) intraoperative imaging systems like 3D-echography. The communication of the devices is based on the specifications, which were developed at ICCAS. In interaction with research group “Scientific Methods” the communication was based on the patient model and proposed to the international standardization committee for the use in the Surgical DICOM (S-DICOM) standard. The devices within the demonstrator configure automatically. This allows reducing the complexity for the personnel.
A second research topic of the research group “S-PACS/Mechatronik” is the pre-clinical and clinical evaluation. This includes (1) the development of simulators and simulation scenarios for near-clinical evaluation, (2) the assessment of automation of surgical assist systems and (3) the clinical evaluation of navigation and “Navigated Control”-systems. Based on the research work at ICCAS, the group members Ronny Grunert and Hendrik Möckel founded the Phacon GmbH. This company won in 2007 the first prize at the FutureSax business plan competition.
Visual Computing
The ICCAS research group “Visual Computing” (Director: Prof. Dr. Dirk Bartz) has been founded in January 2007 with the appointment of Prof. Bartz as Professor for Computer-assisted Surgery. The focus of this research group is the visual processing of medical data, in particular for the analysis, visualization, and examination (Insight, Understanding, and Exploration) of medical image data. The application focus is on (anatomical and surgical) education, diagnosis, therapy planning, and the intraoperative support of surgeons.
In its first year, the research group has focused in particular on the analysis and visualization of functional and anatomical data for the neuro- and ENT-surgery to provide this data for surgical planning. Furthermore, the group explored methods for augmented reality for minimally invasive interventions in the research project NeuroComrade.
Home 
