ABSTRACT

Rapid change is under way on sever fronts I medicine and surgery. Advance in computing power have enable continued growth in virtual reality, visualization, and simulation technologies. The ideal learning opportunities afforded by simulated and virtual environments have prompted their exploration as learning modalities for surgical education and training. Ongoing improvements in this technology suggest an important future role for virtual reality and simulation in medicine.

INTRODUCTION

Rapid change in most segments of the society is occurring as a result of increasingly more sophisticated, affordable and ubiquitous computing power. One clear example of this change process is the internet, which provides interactive and instantaneous access to information that must scarcely conceivable only a few years ago.

Same is the case in the medical field. Adv in instrumentation, visualisation and monitoring have enabled continual growth in the medical field. The information revolution has enabled fundamental changes in this field. Of the many disciplines arising from this new information era, virtual reality holds the greatest promise. The term virtual reality was coined by Jaron Lanier, founded of VPL research, in the late 1980’s. Virtual reality is defined as human computer interface that simulate realistic environments while enabling participant interaction, as a 3D digital world that accurately models actual environment, or simply as cyberspace..

Virtual reality is just beginning to come to that threshold level where we can begin using Simulators in Medicine the way that the Aviation industry has been using it for the past 50 Years — to avoid errors.

In surgery, the life of the patient is of utmost importance and surgeon cannot experiment on the patient body. VR provide a good tool to experiment the various complications arise during surgery…

Download Full Seminar Topic: Virtual Surgery.doc

ABSTRACT

A brain-machine interface is a communication system that does not depend on the brains normal output pathways of peripheral nerves and muscles. It is a new communication link between a functioning human brain and the outside world.These are electronic interfaces with the brain, which has the ability to send and receive signals from the brain. BMI uses brain activity to command, control, actuate and communicate with the world directly through brain integration with peripheral devices and systems. The signals from the brain are taken to the computer via the implants for data entry without any direct brain intervention. BMI transforms mental decisions and/or reactions into control signals by analyzing the bioelectrical brain activity.

While linking the brain directly with machines was once considered science fiction, advances over the past few years have made it increasingly viable. It is an area of intense research with almost limitless possibilities. The human brain is the most complex physical system we know of, and we would have to understand its operation in great detail to build such a device. An immediate goal of brain-machine interface study is to provide a way for people with damaged sensory/motor functions to use their brain to control artificial devices and restore lost capabilities. By combining the latest developments in computer technology and hi-tech engineering, paralyzed persons will be able to control a motorized wheel chair, computer painter, or robotic arm by thought alone. In this era where drastic diseases are getting common it is a boon if we can develop it to its full potential. Recent technical and theoretical advances, have demonstrated the ultimate feasibility of this concept for a wide range of space-based applications. Besides the clinical purposes such an interface would find immediate applications in various technology products also.

INTRODUCTION

Picture a time when humans see in the UV and IR portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, or hear speech on the noisy flight deck of an aircraft carrier; or when soldiers communicate by thought alone. Imagine a time when the human brain has its own wireless modem so that instead of acting on thoughts, war fighters have thoughts that act. Imagine that one day we will be able to download vast amounts of knowledge directly to our brain! So as to cut the lengthy processes of learning everything from scratch. Instead of paying to go to university we could pay to get a “knowledge implant” and perhaps be able to obtain many lifetimes worth of knowledge and expertise in various fields at a young age..

When we talk about high end computing and intelligent interfaces, we just cannot ignore robotics and artificial intelligence. In the near future, most devices would be remote/logically controlled. Researchers are close to breakthroughs in neural interfaces, meaning we could soon mesh our minds with machines. This technology has the capability to impact our lives in ways that have been previously thought possible in only sci-fi movies.

Brain-Machine Interface (BMI) is a communication system, which enables the user to control special computer applications by using only his or her thoughts. It will allow human brain to accept and control a mechanical device as a part of the body. Data can flow from brain to the outside machinery, or to brain from the outside machinery. Different research groups have examined and used different methods to achieve this. Almost all of them are based on electroencephalography (EEG) recorded from the scalp. Our major goal of such research is to create a system that allow patients who have damaged their sensory/motor nerves severely to activate outside mechanisms by using brain signals.

Download Seminar Report On Brain Machine Interface.doc