Real-time ultrasound simulator for kidney intervention training

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Canadian medical universities are transitioning to a new training paradigm called Competency-based Medical Education, requiring that trainee progress is frequently monitored and quantitatively assessed with respect to expert benchmarks, in which learning procedural skills in a simulated environment is an essential component. Marion has developed and marketed a medical simulator, called K181, for percutaneous (needle-based) kidney interventions under simulated X-ray fluoroscopy guidance. Trainees are placed in a virtual surgical environment provided by a head-mounted virtual reality display and manipulate a haptic device simulating the needle. Unfortunately, X-ray fluoroscopy exposes the patient and physician to harmful radiation. Ultrasound has been increasingly popular in percutaneous interventions, being a safe, radiation-free, and affordable option that offers excellent needle placement accuracy, shorter procedure times and overall reduced costs. We propose to develop a novel real-time method for generating clinically realistic synthetic ultrasound images for Marion Surgical to integrate into their existing and revenue generating K181 medical simulator product. The capability of generating real-time synthetic ultrasound imagery will allow Marion to extend their K181 medical simulator product to support a wide array of ultrasound-guided needle-based procedures, which should significantly enlarge and strengthen Marion's market presence. Canadian patients will benefit from this project in multiple ways. The resulting system will improve on the education and training of clinical urology practitioners who will perform these procedures throughout their careers. Marion's K181 suite will promote ultrasound-guided needle placement interventions as the standard of care in a wide array of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, leading to higher patient safety with reduced costs and complications, with direct positive impact on the quality of Canadian health care.