Research projects with the visual support of CAT MEDIC

The surgeon holds the necessary tools, such as the milling machine for preparing the hip socket, in his hands while simultaneously immersing himself virtually in the surgical situation with VR glasses. To make everything feel as real as possible, the tool is connected to a lightweight robot that provides haptic feedback. This allows the surgeon to feel the weight of the milling machine, the contact with the bone, and the feed rate during milling—just like in a real operation. Data on the angle of attack during milling and the milling depth help to continuously improve the outcome of the operation.

As part of this research project, the CAT MEDIC team is demonstrating that in certain cases, a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL rupture) can heal stably without surgery. The treatment regimen “Stable Knee Without Surgery” (SKOOP) was developed at the LEONARDO Orthopaedic Practice under the leadership of Dr Rychen. A study is currently investigating how successful this treatment concept is. As part of this project, we have animated the processes in the knee during cruciate ligament rupture and healing.

Unfortunately, steadily increasing life expectancy is accompanied by a massive rise in the number of people suffering from dementia. A series of standardised movement sequences are used to determine the current stage of dementia. To this end, the learning unit “Movement, immobility and risk of falling in old age” has been expanded for Springer Medicine’s e.Akademie with specially developed animated characters. Using video recordings made by geriatric specialists, we at CAT MEDIC transferred the exercises to our rigged “blue men” and animated them.

Under the direction of Priv.-Doz. Dr. Anja Liebermann and Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Kurt Erdelt, Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich is working with a VR application that we at CAT MEDIC developed for use in dental prosthetics. The aim of this project was to discuss patient case studies with students in virtual seminars led by a lecturer. All seminar participants meet in the form of “dental avatars”. They can move around the seminar room as they wish, talk to each other, read patient files, examine X-rays, view 3D models of heads and jaws from all sides, move them around and take measurements. Students can also visit the virtual seminar room on their own as often as they like to deepen their knowledge. To do so, they “enter” a lobby, select the desired patient case and are teleported to the seminar room.

Physical activity is an important factor for our health. Exercise can often prevent serious illnesses, including cancer, or accelerate the healing process. In collaboration with Health Care Bayern e.V., we at CAT MEDIC have created animations of exercises that are particularly suitable for preventing common types of cancer. These include breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer. The animations featuring our “blue men” illustrate the sequence of movements and help users to perform each exercise correctly.

We are also happy to assist you with your research project. Our services include visualisations, animations and the development of real-time models for virtual reality applications based on our 3D anatomy. Not only are we constantly refining our 3D anatomy, but we are also continuously improving our visualisation styles, the choice of the perfect perspective and the skilful fading in and out of details to get the information across, based on the latest findings.