Medical Robotics, visualisation and navigation

Ole Jacob Elle
Group leader
Most minimally invasive procedures restrict the access and direct vision to the regions which require surgery. Such procedures require intra-operative image modalities such as x-ray, ultrasound or endoscopic images to be able to monitor the procedure in real-time.  In many cases this information is not sufficient to perform the procedure accurately and safely. Merging information acquired pre-operatively, mainly from for instance MRI, CT or PET, with intra-operative data can increase the basis for decisions and thereby improve the safety and accuracy of the procedure. The Medical Robotics, visualization and navigation group develops cutting edge technological solutions which support minimally invasive procedures. In particular, the group is focused on developing real-time image-segmentation and - registration methods. Visualization and navigation is required to present the medical images to the surgeon intra-operatively. 3D video will be more and more cross-linked with medical image information and move toward robotics and automation of surgical procedures. The research group is doing research in all these fields of technology facilitating minimally invasive surgery.

Main research areas:

It aims to be a nationally and internationally leading research environment in technological solutions for in the following research areas:

  • Developing new building block for navigation technology in different surgical disciplines like laparoscopic liver resection, neurosurgery and catheter-based interventions. Such building blocks rely on new preoperative and intra-operative image analysis/processing algorithms, where the intra-operative methods need to consider real-time or near to real-time constraints such as segmentation, volume visualisation and co-registration.
  • Robotic technology ranging from haptic feedback and augmented reality in tele-surgical systems, semi-autonomous systems for support in the operating theatre and miniaturised robotic systems on the tip of a catheter or in a pill-cam system.
  • Explore more research in areas like targeted treatment, new imaging techniques and micro technology.
  • Biomedical modelling of organs like heart, liver etc. , using advanced mathematical models like finite element (FEM) describing tissue properties, flow pattern for prediction and simulation.
  • Development of new monitoring technology e.g. accelerometer and gyro sensors including advanced signal processing for detection of changes in heart conditions.

Contact information:
Group leader Associate professor Ole Jakob Elle, PhD, Sognsvannsveien 20, D6, 3rd floor.
Oslo University Hospital, The Intervention Centre, Tel: 23070112, 91171790
E-mail: oelle@ous-hf.no/oleje@ifi.uio.no

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