Publication
BISON: BCI-Based Interaction Concepts for Operating Microscopes in Neurosurgery
Maurice Rekrut; Matthias Nadig; Tobias Jungbluth; Johannes Ihl
In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Metrology for Extended Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Neural Engineering. IEEE International Conference on Metrology for Extended Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Neural Engineering (MetroXRAINE-2022), IEEE, 2022.
Abstract
Neurosurgery requires medical professionals to adjust operational microscopes according to constantly changing conditions during surgery. These adjustments are currently performed manually by the surgeon which comes with risks for the patient and a hands-free solution for this adjustment is desirable. Within this work we present the design, implementation and a first evaluation of a concept for hands-free interaction with an operating microscope based on Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs). The proposed concept takes into account the various requirements concerning the adjustment of microscope parameters and combines different BCI paradigms for interaction. The concept was implemented and integrated into a simulated surgical scene in which the position, zoom, light and focus of a virtual microscope could be adjusted via BCI. 14 healthy subjects participated in a study and tested the implemented interaction concept in a simulated surgical task. Results of this first evaluation show, that all participants were able to control the microscope via BCI and fulfill the given task. Although the evaluation further shows that the developed system is not yet robust enough for real-world use, the concept itself has proven to be an intuitive way to interact in the simulated surgical scene, highlighting the potential of BCIs for hands-free adjustment of operating microscopes in the future.