Adapting existing technologies for medical use that add functionality is a theme we are big believers in at iMedicalApps.

With soaring costs for medical hardware — using existing paradigms that have been customized for medicine present an opportunity to not only save costs, but to improve patient care.

An example of this is how Doctors in Toronto have transformed the X-box Kinect into a tool for use during surgeries. Microsoft’s Kinect, originally code named Project Natal, is a controller-free gaming system. The device enables users to interact with an Xbox 360 using hands free gestures and spoken commands.

The added medical functionality in this case: Surgeons can manipulate radiology images during surgery without having to break their sterile field. Gowning and becoming sterile again can take up to 10 minutes alone. Getting someone else to manipulate the CT images requires a fair amount of manipulation, and more time that the patient is on the OR table — time that can potentially be saved during an operation by using the Kinect system the team at the University of Toronto has designed.



Link to video

Via: MedGadget

Source: The Globe and Mail