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MeVisLab-OpenVR prototyping platform for virtual reality medical applications

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International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Virtual reality (VR) can provide an added value for diagnosis and/or intervention planning. Several VR software implementations have been proposed but they are often application dependent. Previous attempts for a more generic solution incorporating VR in medical prototyping software (MeVisLab) were still lacking functionality precluding easy and flexible development.

Methods

We propose an alternative solution that uses rendering to a graphical processing unit (GPU) texture to enable rendering arbitrary Open Inventor scenes in a VR context. It facilitates flexible development of user interaction and rendering of more complex scenes involving multiple objects. We tested the platform in planning a transcatheter cardiac stent placement procedure.

Results

This approach proved to enable development of a particular implementation that facilitates planning of percutaneous treatment of a sinus venosus atrial septal defect. The implementation showed it is intuitive to plan and verify the procedure using VR.

Conclusion

An alternative implementation for linking OpenVR with MeVisLab is provided that offers more flexible development of VR prototypes which can facilitate further clinical validation of this technology in various medical disciplines.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Imaging & Pathology Department, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, BUS 7003, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Stijn De Buck

  2. ESAT, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, BUS 7003, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Stijn De Buck & Paul Suetens

  3. Radiology Department, UZ Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Stijn De Buck

  4. Cardiology Department, UZ Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Stijn De Buck

  5. Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Alexander Van De Bruaene & Werner Budts

  6. Congenital and Structural Cardiology, UZ Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Alexander Van De Bruaene & Werner Budts

  7. Medical Imaging Research Center, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49, BUS 7003, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Stijn De Buck, Alexander Van De Bruaene & Paul Suetens

Authors
  1. Stijn De Buck
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  2. Alexander Van De Bruaene
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  3. Werner Budts
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  4. Paul Suetens
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stijn De Buck.

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De Buck, S., Van De Bruaene, A., Budts, W. et al. MeVisLab-OpenVR prototyping platform for virtual reality medical applications. Int J CARS 17, 2065–2069 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-022-02678-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-022-02678-0

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