With a detailed review of the literature, potential future trends in development of image-guided abdominal interventions are identified, namely, growing use of image fusion and augmented reality, computer-assisted and/or robot-assisted interventions, development of more accurate registration and navigation techniques, and growing applications of intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging.

No abstract

The strong advent of computer-assisted technologies experienced by the modern orthopedic surgery prompts for the expansion of computationally efficient techniques to be built on the broad base of computer-aided engineering tools that are readily available. However, one of the common challenges faced during the current developmental phase continues to remain the lack of reliable frameworks to allow a fast and precise conversion of the anatomical information acquired through computer tomography to a format that is acceptable to computer-aided engineering software. To address this, this study proposes an integrated and automatic framework capable to extract and then postprocess the original imaging data to a common planar and closed B-Spline representation. The core of the developed platform relies on the approximation of the discrete computer tomography data by means of an original two-step B-Spline fitting technique based on successive deformations of the control polygon. In addition to its rapidity and robustness, the developed fitting technique was validated to produce accurate representations that do not deviate by more than 0.2 mm with respect to alternate representations of the bone geometry that were obtained through different-contact-based-data acquisition or data processing methods.

Advanced simulation techniques in computer-assisted surgery is not only the key element towards development of computer based systems for optimized implant design, but they will also allow surgeons to reliably replace the damaged joints, even when significant bone loss has occurred. Since the main objective of the surgical procedure is to accurately replicate the native articulation of the elbow, the overall success of the joint arthroplasty is decisively influenced by the preoperative planning procedure aiming to establish the presence of a feasible position of the implant that will essentially cause a minimal malalignment of the prosthetic flexion-extension (FE) axis of the joint with respect to the native one. Any malalignment between native and artificial axes will eventually alter the kinematics of the joint and will lead to implant failures.

Background: Gait analysis is receiving increasing attention due to various applications in athletic performance, man-machine interfaces and especially in military services. This analysis involves the analysis of human locomotion augmented by body movements and biomechanics of joints. The kinematic motion of the body during a gait cycle capturing by cameras is then used as the desired target for modelling the motion of body segments. By taking advantage of gait analysis concept, this study aims to model the military marching, using anthropometric data with the focus on lower limbs while introducing top candidates with better healthy conditions in lower limb joints during a cycle of marching. Methods: Using 100 anthropometric data from military soldiers, equations of motion for the model are derived by applying Lagrangian methods in an inverse dynamic approach. In this model, the joints are simulated using springs and dampers while the actuators, simulated the muscles, acted like motors and applied enough torque on joints so that the model motion replicates normal military marching. Finally, all the springs and dampers coefficients are driven from optimization process. Results: Hip, knee and ankle torques were calculated after the optimization process for all 100 soldiers and then 5 candidates among them were established with less suffering forces and torques in their joints. Conclusions: In this study using biomechanics basics and anthropometry data at the same time, a standard could be evaluated to select the soldiers based on healthy condition of lower organs. Keywords: marching, anthropometric data, gait analysis, biomechanics, torque, equations of motion, optimization.