In our interview with Jakob Šušterič of MESI, a Slovenian finalist in the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, we were intrigued by his mention of ADORA, another Slovenian company that’s developing fascinating intraoperative technology. We took a look at what they’re working on and discovered that ADORA is utilizing 3D cameras to help surgeons navigate through radiological imagery using voice and simple hand gestures.
The system takes advantage of cheap and readily available Microsoft Kinect devices that can both see in 3D and help with identifying the position of surgeons’ hands, while also listening for commands using a built-in microphone.
To make things flow quicker during an operation, the surgeon prepares specific set of images and data that will be important during the procedure using HealthSuite clinical management app. This is then used by the ADORA Assistant during surgery to present the images without having a dedicated unscrubbed assistant doing it on their behalf.
This is certainly not the first time that the Kinect has been used for intraoperative image browsing (see links below), but it’s looking like ADORA’s solution may actually become a real product that’s more than just a simple image browser. By offering a dedicated system and a specialized app that can prep images before going into the OR, the technology may help save quite a bit of time and allow many surgeries to move along smoothly.
Check out this demo video presenting the ADORA:
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