Human-Centered Design in Mixed Reality for Surgery and Clinical Practice

#HCI #medical #mixed-reality #human-centered #human-factors #biomedical #neurosurgery #augmented-reality
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At the Applied Perception Lab at Concordia University, user-centered design principles are at the core of developing innovative technologies that enhance healthcare and surgical practices. By focusing on visualization techniques, display devices, and interaction paradigms, our work aims to improve user experiences in clinical workflows and surgical environments. The first part of the talk will provide an overview of our latest projects that connect technology with healthcare outcomes, including an mHealth app supporting breast cancer patients, a game for teaching safer surgery, and a VR environment designed to reduce MRI-related anxiety. These projects all focus on how technology can address specific user needs to improve healthcare experiences and outcomes.


The second part will dive deeper on a specific project: the design and development of accessible and precise neurosurgical guidance tools. During neurosurgery, surgeons must map preoperative patient images onto the patient positioned on the operating room table. This mapping is essential for understanding the topology and location of anatomical structures that are not visible in the exposed surgical field. However, the process is complex, time-consuming, and prone to error. By integrating augmented reality, auditory guidance, and interaction techniques, we can offer surgeons a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of patient-specific anatomical information. These methods have the potential to reduce surgical time and improve precision, ultimately enhancing patient outcomes.


The talk aims to demonstrate how focusing on human factors and perception can transform healthcare and surgical technologies, ultimately benefiting both patients and providers.


  Date and Time

  Location

  Hosts

  Registration


  • Date: 22 May 2025
  • Time: 06:00 PM UTC to 07:00 PM UTC
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  • Robarts Research Institute
  • 100 Perth Drive
  • London, Ontario
  • Canada n6g2v4
  • Building: Robarts Research Institute
  • Room Number: Fisher Conference Room (2201)
  • Click here for Map
  • Contact Event Host

  • Prof. Elvis Chen

    TEB 255, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

    Western University

    London, Ontario

    Canada, N6A 3K7

  • Co-sponsored by Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Starts 08 May 2025 04:00 AM UTC
  • Ends 22 May 2025 06:00 PM UTC
  • No Admission Charge

  Speakers

Marta of Concordia University

Biography:

Dr. Kersten-Oertel received the BSc (Honours) degree in Computer Science and the BA degree in Art History from Queen’s University (Kingston) in 2002. In 2005 she completed her MSc in Computer Science at Queen’s University. After working as a research assistant at the GRaphisch-Interaktive Systeme at the University of Tübingen (Germany), in 2015 she received the PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering at McGill University (Montreal). She is currently an Associate Professor in Computer Science and Software Engineering, Concordia University Research Chair in Applied Perception and FRQS Junior 2 Research Scholar in Health Technologies. Her research focuses on the development and testing of novel technologies and algorithms to improve clinical decision making, including diagnosis, planning, and execution of surgical treatments. In particular, she brings expertise from the area of human-computer interaction (HCI), and specifically developing and testing new visualization, display and interaction methods in order to improve spatial and depth understanding of medical data and studying the impact of augmented reality visualization for specific surgical tasks.