Kinect trialled by surgeons
Microsoft's motion control used in keyhole surgery in London
London surgeons are currently trialling Kinect's motion control capabilities at St Thomas' hospital in London. The devices are being used during keyhole surgery to allow surgeons to manipulate images with voice and gestures.
"Until recently I was shouting out across the operating theatre to tell someone to go up, down, left right," surgeon Tom Carrell told the BBC.
"But with the Kinect I'm able to get the position that I want quickly - and also without me having to handle non-sterile things like a keyboard or mouse during the procedure."
The specialist programme was developed thanks to a collaboration between Microsoft research and Lancaster university.
"This is a lovely example of a successful interdisciplinary research project, combining the technical skills of computer scientists with a social scientific and medical expertise that ensures the new technology resonates with the way in which surgeons actually do their work," added the university's Dr Mark Rouncefield.

This is a bit misleading. Using Kinect *in the same room as* keyhole surgery isn't exactly the same as "used in keyhole surgery", if you ask me. I had worrying visions of someone using Kinect to do the surgery itself, and there's no way in a million years I'd ever let a surgeon near me if he was relying on that!
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Dave Herod on 31st May 2012 3:49pm
Posted:11 months ago