New technology lets doctors "touch" organs
March 8th, 2008 at 11:52 pm by TimA revolutionary medical imaging technology will soon allow doctors to ‘feel’ your organs without having to resort to surgery.
Computer image analysis is already used to create three-dimensional models of organs like the liver, but researchers in Sweden have developed a special piece of equipment that will allow radiologists to “touch” those models. This is the first time the technology, called haptics, has been developed to help the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of ailments, including cancer.
The equipment replaces the traditional computer mouse and keyboard with a pen-like instrument that is attached to the computer via a frame. As the user “touches” the virtual organ with the instrument, it responds as if it was being run along the real organ surface. It allows doctors to conduct a “virtual” examination of the organs by exploring a three-dimensional image on a display screen with both touch and vision.
While the technology is in its infancy, this “virtual” examination clearly holds the potential to make a serious contribution to the field of diagnostics.
One can only imagine what this technology will turn into, as a result of giving into consumer demand. Who knows what else people might want to ‘touch’?