Development and Evaluation of a Remote User Interface for Intra-operative Imaging Devices

IDP by: Max-Emanuel Hoffmann and Tobias Konsek
Advisor: Prof. Nassir Navab
Supervision by: Asli Okur and Ralf Stauder
Due date: 2012/09/01

Abstract

Due to the rapid technical development in recent years, studying the usability of a system has become increasingly popular. Usability is seen as a crucial factor for the success of many systems and products. In a complex domain like the operating room (OR) creating systems with high usability is even more important, as deficiencies in the design can have catastrophic effects. Due to the complexity of medical devices and the associated environment, it is very challenging to build system with high usability.
In this work we try to build a generic and highly usable framework for remote controls of medical devices. The framework will be developed for the Apple iPod Touch, so surgeons can remotely control a medical device. The device analyzed is the declipseSPECT, which is manufactured by the SurgicEye GmbH. With help from the declipseSPECT device, 3D SPECT images can be created intra-operatively by scanning the patient with a tracked radiation detector. This information is displayed on a touch screen monitor, which is also used for the user interaction.
The goal of the IDP is to analyze the current clinical workfow with declipseSPECT and make a user study to identify a subset of the most important user interaction elements. Depending on the results, a mobile application will be developed which allows the surgeons to remotely control the medical device themselves by putting the mobile device in a sterile foil and place it on the instrument table, in contrast to the usual routine, where a technical assistant is needed who operates the touchscreen of the medical device by following the surgeons instructions. Since surgeons have limited time during surgery it is very important for them to have a user interface that is simple enough so that it includes only the most needed components and is easy to understand. For this reason, the focus of this work is to develop a highly usable mobile application, which needs to be evaluated by conducting proper usability experiments.

Project Outline

1. Requirements

Analysis of declipseSPECT / functionality
Analysis of workflow and used functionalities in the operational environment
Interviews, questionnaires (Online form)
Evaluation

2. Prototyping

Developing a congurable, generic mobile application (iOS, xCode, Objective - C)
Bidirectional event handling between client and server
Usability Engineering
2 different user interface prototypes depending on the results of the step 1

3. Evaluation

Usability Evaluation (Inquiries, Testing Heuristics)
Conducting user studies in a controlled usability lab
Analysis and Evaluation of the results
Comparison of both prototypes
Usability comparison to legacy system

4. Documentation and Presentation

ProjectForm
Title:	Development and Evaluation of a Remote User Interface for Intra-operative Imaging Devices
Abstract:	Due to the rapid technical development in recent years, studying the usability of a system has become increasingly popular. Usability is seen as a crucial factor for the success of many systems and products. In a complex domain like the operating room (OR) creating systems with high usability is even more important, as deficiencies in the design can have catastrophic effects. Due to the complexity of medical devices and the associated environment, it is very challenging to build system with high usability. In this work we try to build a generic and highly usable framework for remote controls of medical devices. The framework will be developed for the Apple iPod Touch, so surgeons can remotely control a medical device. The device analyzed is the declipseSPECT, which is manufactured by the SurgicEye GmbH. With help from the declipseSPECT device, 3D SPECT images can be created intra-operatively by scanning the patient with a tracked radiation detector. This information is displayed on a touch screen monitor, which is also used for the user interaction. The goal of the IDP is to analyze the current clinical workfow with declipseSPECT and make a user study to identify a subset of the most important user interaction elements. Depending on the results, a mobile application will be developed which allows the surgeons to remotely control the medical device themselves by putting the mobile device in a sterile foil and place it on the instrument table, in contrast to the usual routine, where a technical assistant is needed who operates the touchscreen of the medical device by following the surgeons instructions. Since surgeons have limited time during surgery it is very important for them to have a user interface that is simple enough so that it includes only the most needed components and is easy to understand. For this reason, the focus of this work is to develop a highly usable mobile application, which needs to be evaluated by conducting proper usability experiments.
Student:	Max-Emanuel Hoffmann and Tobias Konsek
Director:	Nassir Navab
Supervisor:	Asli Okur, Ralf Stauder and Stefan Wiesner (SurgicEye)
Type:	IDP
Area:	Surgical Workflow, Computer-Aided Surgery
Status:	finished
Start:	2012/04/16
Finish:	2012/08/31
Thesis (optional):
Picture:

		Chair for Computer Aided Medical Procedures & Augmented Reality Lehrstuhl für Informatikanwendungen in der Medizin & Augmented Reality
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