Dr. Tobias Blum I have been with the Chair for Computer Aided Medical Procedures & Augmented Reality as PhD student and research assistant between 2007 and 2013. As of March 2013 I moved to Ferchau Engineering and I am currently working for BMW Research and Technology on head-up displays and navigation systems. email:

My work in the public and media

My work has been shown in the public at many events such as the IdeenPark and was featured several times in magazines and in TV.

Research projects

mirracle Using the metaphor of a magic mirror, mirracle shows an augmented reality overlay of a CT dataset onto a user standing in front of a big screen. We track the person using Microsoft Kinect. The system could be used for anatomy education or patient consulting. See http://www.mirracle.de for more information.

Surgical Workflow Analysis in Laparoscopy for Monitoring and Documentation Surgical workflow recovery is a crucial step towards the development of intelligent support systems in surgical environments. The objective of the project is to create a system which is able to recognize automatically the current steps of a surgical laparoscopic procedure using a set of signals recorded from the OR. The project adresses several issues such as the simultaneous recordings of various signals within the OR, the design of methods and algorithms for processing and interpreting the information, and finally the development of a convenient user interface to display context sensitive information inside the OR. The current clinical focus is on laparoscopic cholecystectomies but the concepts developed in the project also apply to laparoscopic surgeries of other kinds.

Analysis and Modeling of Actions for Advanced Medical Training Systems Providing feedback to trainees is one of the most important issues to support learning. This project researches how to give quantitative and visual feedback on the performance of a student when training on simulators or phantoms. Statistical analysis and probabilistic models are used to compare the performance of students and experts. Augmented Reality and video is used to give visual feedback like a synchronized replay of the student’s and the expert’s performance.

Simulated Ultrasound We are simulating Ultrasound images from CT volumes by assuming a correlation between Hounsfield units and acoustic impedance. Rays are cast trough the CT volume to simulate the US image formation. Simulated Ultrasound from CT can be used for CT/Ultrasound registration by comparing a real US image to simulated ones. Another application of simulated US is training.

Publications

My PhD thesis Human-Computer Interaction for Medical Education and Training can be downloaded here.

	S. Bauer, S. Seitel, H. Hoffmann, T. Blum, J. Wasza, M. Balda, H.P. Meinzer, N. Navab, J. Hornegger, L. Maier-Hein Real-Time Range Imaging in Health Care: A Survey Time-of-Flight and Depth Imaging. Sensors, Algorithms, and Applications Lecture Notes in Computer Science Volume 8200, 2013, pp 228-254 (bib)
	T. Blum, A. Rieger, N. Navab, H. Friess, M. E. Martignoni A Review of Computer-Based Simulators for Ultrasound Training Simulation in Healthcare, Volume 8, Number 2, pp. 98-108 (bib)
	Ma Meng, P. Fallavollita, T. Blum, U. Eck, C. Sandor, S. Weidert, J. Waschke, N. Navab Kinect for Interactive AR Anatomy Learning The 12th IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR), Adelaide, Australia, Oct. 1 - 4, 2013. (bib)
	T. Blum, R. Stauder, E. Euler, N. Navab Superman-like X-ray Vision: Towards Brain-Computer Interfaces for Medical Augmented Reality The 11th IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR), Atlanta, USA, Nov. 5 - 8, 2012. The original publication is available online at ieee.org. (bib)
	A. Bigdelou, R. Stauder, T. Benz, A. Okur, T. Blum, R. Ghotbi, N. Navab HCI Design in the OR: A Gesturing Case-study MICCAI 2012 Workshop on Modeling and Monitoring of Computer Assisted Interventions (M2CAI), Nice, France, October 2012 (bib)
	N. Navab, T. Blum, L. Wang, A. Okur, T. Wendler First Deployments of Augmented Reality in Operating Rooms IEEE Computer, Volume 45, Issue 7, pp. 48-55 (bib)
	T. Blum, V. Kleeberger, C. Bichlmeier, N. Navab mirracle: An Augmented Reality Magic Mirror System for Anatomy Education IEEE Virtual Reality 2012 (VR), Orange County, USA, Mar. 4 - 8, 2012. The original publication is available online at ieee.org. (bib)
	R.R. Shamir, L. Joskowicz, I. Tamir, M. Horn, T. Blum, N. Navab, J. Mehrkens, Y. Shoshan A Method for Reduced Risk Trajectory Planning in Image-Guided Keyhole Neurosurgery Conference of the Society for Medical Innovation and Technology (SMIT 2011), TelAviv, Israel, September 13 - 16, 2011 (bib)
	R.R. Shamir, M. Horn, T. Blum, J. Mehrkens, Y. Shoshan, L. Joskowicz, N. Navab Trajectory Planning with Augmented Reality for Improved Risk Assesment in Image-Guided Keyhole Neurosurgery IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging: From Nano to Macro (ISBI 2011), Chicago, Illinois, USA, March 30 - April 2, 2011 (bib)
	N. Padoy, T. Blum, A. Ahmadi, H. Feußner, M.O. Berger, N. Navab Statistical Modeling and Recognition of Surgical Workflow Medical Image Analysis (2010), Volume 16, Issue 3, April 2012 (published online December 2010), pp. 632-641. The original publication is available online at www.elsevier.com. (bib)
	T. Blum, M. Wieczorek, A. Aichert, R. Tibrewal, N. Navab The effect of out-of-focus blur on visual discomfort when using stereo displays The 9th IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, Seoul, Korea, Oct. 13 - 16, 2010. The original publication is available online at ieee.org. (bib)
	C. Bichlmeier, E. Euler, T. Blum, N. Navab Evaluation of the Virtual Mirror as a Navigational Aid for Augmented Reality Driven Minimally Invasive Procedures The 9th IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, Seoul, Korea, Oct. 13 - 16, 2010. The original publication is available online at ieee.org. (bib)
	T. Blum, H. Feußner, N. Navab Modeling and Segmentation of Surgical Workflow from Laparoscopic Video Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI 2010), Beijing, China, September 2010 (bib)
	T. Blum, N. Navab, H. Feußner Methods for Automatic Statistical Modeling of Surgical Workflow 7th International Conference on Methods and Techniques in Behavioral Research (Measuring Behavior 2010), Eindhoven, The Netherlands, August 2010 (bib)
	L. Wang, J. Landes, S. Weidert, T. Blum, A. von der Heide, E. Euler, N. Navab First Animal Cadaver Study for Interlocking of Intramedullary Nails under Camera Augmented Mobile C-arm A Surgical Workflow Based Preclinical Evaluation the 1st International Conference on Information Processing in Computer-Assisted Interventions (IPCAI), Switzerland, June 23 2010. The original publication is available online at www.springerlink.com. (bib)
	T. Blum, S.M. Heining, O. Kutter, N. Navab Advanced Training Methods using an Augmented Reality Ultrasound Simulator 8th IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR 2009), Orlando, USA, October 2009, pp. 177-178. The original publication is available online at ieee.org. (bib)
	T. Blum, M. E. Martignoni, H. Friess, N. Navab An Ultrasound Simulator for Training using CT-based Simulation of Ultrasound Images 5th Russian-Bacarian Conference on Bio-Medical Engineering, Munich, Germany, July 2009 (bib)
	N. Fritz, T. Meyer, T. Blum, H.U. Lemke, M. Ilzkovitz, Y. Nevatia, M. Nolden, I. Wegner, M. Weinlich, R. Breitkreutz, W. Wein, M. Lazerges, O. Angerer, N. Navab CAMDASS: An Augmented Reality Medical Guidance System for Spaceflights Proceedings of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (CARS 2009), Berlin, Germany, June 2009 (bib)
	T. Blum, N. Padoy, H. Feußner, N. Navab Workflow Mining for Visualization and Analysis of Surgeries International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, Volume 3, Number 5, November 2008, pp. 379-386. The original publication is available online at www.springerlink.com. (bib)
	T. Blum, N. Padoy, H. Feußner, N. Navab Modeling and Online Recognition of Surgical Phases using Hidden Markov Models Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI 2008), New York, USA, September 2008, pp. 627-635. The original publication is available online at www.springerlink.com. (bib)
	N. Padoy, T. Blum, H. Feußner, M.O. Berger, N. Navab On-line Recognition of Surgical Activity for Monitoring in the Operating Room Proceedings of the 20th Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence (IAAI 2008) held in conjunction with the 23rd AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Chicago, Illinois, USA, July 2008, pp. 1718-1724 (bib)
	T. Blum, N. Padoy, H. Feußner, N. Navab Workflow Mining for Visualization and Analysis of Surgeries Proceedings of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (CARS 2008), Barcelona, Spain, June 2008, pp. 134-135 (bib)
	N. Padoy, T. Blum, I. Essa, H. Feußner, M.O. Berger, N. Navab A Boosted Segmentation Method for Surgical Workflow Analysis Proceedings of Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention (MICCAI 2007), Brisbane, Australia, October 2007, pp. 102-109. The original publication is available online at www.springerlink.com. (bib)
	T. Blum, T. Sielhorst, N. Navab Advanced Augmented Reality Feedback for Teaching 3D Tool Manipulation New Technology Frontiers in Minimally Invasive Therapies, 2007, pp. 223-236 (bib)
	T. Blum, O. Häberle, M. Appel, H. Krcmar Estimating the Financial Consequences of Using Augmented Reality in the Construction of Power Plants Dritter Workshop Virtuelle und Erweiterte Realität der GI-Fachgruppe VR/AR, Koblenz, Germany, September 2006 (bib)
	O. Häberle, T. Blum, H. Krcmar Evaluating an Innovative Technology in the Presence of Uncertainty 12th Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS 2006), Acapulco, México, August 2006, pp. 541-549 (bib)
	T. Sielhorst, T. Blum, N. Navab Synchronizing 3D movements for quantitative comparison and simultaneous visualization of actions Fourth IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR 2005), Vienna, Austria, October 2005, pp. 38-47. The original publication is available online at ieee.org. (bib)
	T. Sielhorst, T. Blum, N. Navab Quantitative comparison of movements for medical training 4. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Computer-und Roboter-Assistierte Chirurgie (CURAC 2005), Berlin, Germany, September 2005 (bib)

Awards

	Notable paper in computing in 2012 The article First Deployments of Augmented Reality in Operating Rooms that I have co-authored has been selected as a notable paper in computing in 2012 by Computing Reviews
	Science4Life Business Plan Competition 2011 Our team SmartSurgicalSolutions was one of ten awarded teams at the Science4Life business plan competition
	Munich Business Plan Competition 2011 for the business plan on AXSight together with the other members of SmartSurgicalSolutions: Lejing Wang, Dr. med. Simon Weidert and Prof. Nassir Navab
	Werner von Siemens Excellence Award 2008 for my diploma thesis Surgical Workflow Analysis: Representation and Application to Monitoring supervised by Nicolas Padoy & advised by Prof. Nassir Navab
	NDI Best Student Paper Award on ISMAR 2005 together with Tobias Sielhorst for our paper Synchronizing 3D movements for quantitative comparison and simultaneous visualization of actions

Teaching

• Medical Augmented Reality und User Interfaces: Proseminar (2012SoSe)
• Medical Technology Entrepreneurship: Lecture (2012SoSe)
• Medical Imaging Entrepreneurship: Lecture (2011WiSe)
• Medical Imaging Entrepreneurship: Lecture (2011SoSe)
• Lab Course / Praktikum: Kinect Programming for Computer Vision: Praktikum (2011SoSe)
• Recent Advances in Computer Assisted Surgery: Hauptseminar (2010WiSe)

Theses I have supervised

• Augmented Reality Game for Teaching Medical Skills by Andreas Spurny (DA/MA/BA)
• IDP: Visualization of Medical Cryosections for Augmented Reality by Stefan Hessel (IDP)
• Ultrasound Training Simulator using a Haptic Feedback Device by Hongming Huai (DA/MA/BA)
• BOOPS: Breast RegistratiOn fOr Plastic Surgery by Martin Sälzle (DA/MA/BA)
• 3D Interaction Methods for Medical Applications using Low-Cost Hardware by Korbinian Schwinger (DA/MA/BA)

Previous projects I've done

• Scientific consultant for the CAMDASS project done by the European Space Agency and Space Applications (2009-2011)
• Diploma Thesis: Surgical Workflow Analysis: Representation and Application to Monitoring
• Research Paper / IDP: Economic Assessment of Using Augmented Reality in the Construction of Power Plants (At the chair for information systems and in cooperation with Siemens CT)
• Participation in the course for medical imaging at the Moscow-Bavarian Joint Advanced Student School - MB-JASS'2006 in Moscow.
• Research Paper / SEP: Synchronizing 3D Movements for Quantitative Comparison and Simultaneous Visualization of Actions
• Lab Course: Intra-operative Imaging & Visualization - DelivARy

Videos

Superman-like X-ray Vision: Towards Brain-Computer Interfaces for Medical Augmented Reality - ISMAR 2012

First Deployments of Augmented Reality in Operating Rooms - IEEE Computer, 45(7)

mirracle: An Augmented Reality Magic Mirror System for Anatomy Education - VR 2012

Augmented Reality Magic Mirror for Medical Data Visualization

Augmented Reality Magic Mirror using Kinect

The effect of out-of-focus blur on visual discomfort when using stereo displays - ISMAR 2010

Modeling and Segmentation of Surgical Workflow from Laparoscopic Video - MICCAI 2010

Advanced Training Methods using an Augmented Reality Ultrasound Simulator - ISMAR 2009

Workflow Mining for Visualization and Analysis of Surgeries - IJCARS 2008

Synchronizing 3D movements for quantitative comparison and simultaneous visualization of actions - ISMAR 2005