PITTSBURGH (PTTP) – University of Pittsburgh students from different backgrounds are working together to combine computer science with the medical field and implementing mixed reality to revolutionize healthcare.
Computer science PhD student, Talha Khan, explained how they have been working to digitalize the operating room. Medical student, Michael Kann, has always been interested in bridging the gap between medicine, industry, and engineering. He expressed that the lab at the University of Pittsburgh has been the perfect place to reach those goals.
Undergraduate student, Griffin Hurt also emphasizes that because it is an interdisciplinary lab they can combine the skills of people from all walks of academia including, undergraduate computer science students, and then medical, and undergraduate pre-med students who work on the clinical side.
Medical student Nicolás Matheo Kass explained how they can take a 3-dimensional CT scan and put it directly on the patient. Kass called it “science fiction.” Michael Kann also explained how they can use this mixed reality technology in preoperative patient counseling to show the patients their anatomy before they undergo surgery.
Talha Khan said that one of their most notable accomplishments was the paper that they presented at the top conference on Mixed Reality in Sydney, Australia. The paper was awarded the best Journal Paper at IEEE ISMAR 2023 out of 600 submissions.
Credit: Melanie Judd