This specialized application presents a user-friendly interface which supplies all needs of spinal surgery. Questionnaires and scales which are very important for clinicians and researchers can be generated through the SSD tool.

Visuo-haptic mixed reality (VHMR) adds virtual objects to a real scene and enables users to see and also touch them via a see-through display and a haptic device. Most studies with kinesthetic feedback use general-purpose haptic devices, which require the user to continuously hold an attached stylus. This approach constrains users to the mechanical limits of the device even when it is not needed. In this paper, we propose a novel VHMR concept with an encountered-type haptic display (ETHD), which consists of a precision hexapod positioner and a six-axis force/torque transducer. The main contribution is that the users work with unbound real-life tools with tracking markers. ETHD’s end-effector remains inside the virtual object and follows the tooltip to engage only during an interaction. We have developed a simulation setup and experimentally evaluated the relative accuracy and synchronization of the three major processes, namely tool tracking, haptic rendering, and visual rendering. The experiments successfully build-up to a simple simulation scenario where a tennis ball with a fixed center is deformed by the user.

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Accurate measurements of arterial anatomy are emerging as the most important determinants of endovascular abdominal aneurysm repair. It is quite difficult to define and measure arterial anatomy features quantitatively due to the complex structure of the aneurysm and insufficient visual feedback. During decision making, to assist operators in diagnosing abdominal aortic aneurysms, a specialized preprocessing Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Measurement and Evaluation Tool (AMET) was developed. AMET provides visual interfaces with broad measurement capabilities to generate a 3D model of the aorta for a better diagnosis and accurate stent selection. The accuracy and usability of the tool was tested with a series of measurements that were carried out on a selected patient group. The obtained statistical results were evaluated and compared with the current applied method used by the radiodiagnostic department. Test results showed that the new introduced measurement and evaluation tool, AMET, has higher measurement quality compared to the conventional manual method.