Modeling and implementing accoustic feedback of a Bluetooth gamma probe

IDP by: Andrei Mituca
Advisor: Prof. Nassir Navab
Supervision by: Asli Okur and Stefan Wiesner (SurgicEye)
Due date: 2013/06/28

Abstract

This project is performed in an innovative area of an intra-operative 3D nuclear imaging which o ffers a novel approach for robust and precise localization of functional information to facilitate less invasive, image-guided surgery.

The base of this project is the use of nuclear probes in the operation room for localization of target structures and control of the surgery outcome. This radiation detectors provide an 1D signal that allows the surgeons to get information about the distribution of a radioactive labeled structure. The project shall be integrated within the declipseSPECT which is a system used for generating 3D images of radioactivity distributions inside a human body. In order to accomplish the task, the system acquires readings of a conventional gamma probe together with positions and orientation of the probe at the time the readings were required.

The outcome of the given project is the software implementation of the acoustic feedback of a gamma probe. Stand alone gamma probes are manufactured by various companies (RMD Instruments, NeoProbe, Care Wise Medical) which can be used as starting points for modeling such a tool. A software solution is necessary for the seamlessly integration within the declipseSPECT system. The first step is de fining the acoustic model for the translation of the numeric values read from the probe into sounds.

The project is strongly focused on research of possible implementation models and existing libraries to achieve the goal. Starting with a simple implementation model, the process should be incremental until a satisfactory sound navigation is achieved.

The process includes experimenting with different models, different sound libraries and software sound synthesizers.