Virtual Surgery using 3D Slicer at the Research Bazaar 2016 Conference
I had a fantastic time at ResBaz 2016. It was an exhausting whirlwind adventure and I’m so glad I got to be a part of it.
I ran the 3D Slicer workshop, one of the 8 major streams that ResBaz attendees were allocated to during the event. This workshop was run across the first two days, with a whopping 9 hours of overall content. Phew!
21 people participated in my workshop in total, from a range of different academic backgrounds. Fields of study included archaeology, veterinary science, evolutionary biology, physiotherapy, dentistry, cancer research, medical image processing, food science, biomedical animation, health science communication, and more.
As in previous workshops, the content was mainly focussed around generating 3D models of anatomy from DICOM datasets like MRI and CT scans using medical image processing techniques. We also had a look at 3D volume rendering and visualisation, image registration, statistical analysis, 3D printing, and more.
All attendees bright-eyed and bushy tailed on the first day.
I had two fantastic helpers during the training sessions: Jasamine Coles-Black, a Masters student in the Department of Medicine at Austin Hospital, and Rachel Swain, and Undergraduate student in Biomedical Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology. The girls did a fantastic job at helping out participants during the workshop, and Jas presented a portion of the content to the class, helping the whole workshop run a lot more smoothly.
Me and my awesome helpers Jasamine Coles-Black and Rachel Swain. Thanks guys!
One of the highlights of this workshop for me was the guest appearance by two prominent members of the 3D Slicer worldwide community, a ResBaz first!
Dr. Steve Pieper, is a Computer Scientist with extensive expertise in Medical Imaging, Surgical Planning, and Biomechanical Simulation, and is the Chief Architect of 3D Slicer. Dr. Raúl San José is an Associate Professor of Radiology in Harvard Medical School, and Principal Investigator of the Chest Imaging Platform http://chestimagingplatform.org/, which includes SlicerCIP.
Steve and Raul called in from Boston in the US, and spoke about 3D Slicer and its capabilities, including the Chest Imaging Platform, and presented a number of very interesting use-cases.
The close to 90 minute session was recorded; you can watch it in it’s entirety on the Research Bazaar YouTube channel. In addition, the slides presented by Steve and Raúl can be viewed via the following links.
3D Slicer in 2016 by Steve Pieper. Chest Imaging Platform by Raúl San José Estépar. Chen-GyroGuide-Slicer.pptx by Steve Pieper.
The 3D Slicer online community is extensive and very active, and Steve and Raúl were thrilled to be able to participate in our Melbourne based event from the other side of the world. I have been in contact with Steve Pieper since mid-2015, when I was initially putting together our 3D Slicer workshop material, and he very kindly offered feedback and advice regarding my content. It has been great to come across members of this community who are so willing to share their knowledge and collaborate.
Conferencing this morning with Steve Pieper, Chief Architect of 3D Slicer! @ResBaz #ResBaz pic.twitter.com/PBIJeI4VGE
— Jessica Beach (@JessABeach)1 February 2016
In addition to this great presentation, I also handed out a prize to one of the workshop participants. For one of our workshop challenges, I had participants generate a 3D model of a child’s trachea from an MRI scan. This is quite a challenging task, with lots of manual segmentation steps required. Will James generated the best looking model, and was awarded the ‘Best Virtual Surgeon’ award, a special ResBaz mug handed out at the awards ceremony on the third day. Congratulations again Will!
Me awarding the ‘Best Virtual Surgeon’ award to 3D Slicer workshop attendee Will James, for his 3D model of a trachea.
Enjoyed learning Slicer, met great people at #ResBaz #ResBazmelb, thanks for Best Virtual Surgeon award! & @PJMignone for 3D printing lab
— Will James (@BioMationViz)3 February 2016
Overall the experience was a great one. Thanks to everyone who attended, I had a great time meeting you all, and hearing about your research challenges was fantastic.
To see the ResBaz workshop content in full, follow this link.
We will be running more 3D Slicer workshops throughout 2016, so if you missed out during ResBaz, don’t despair. Contact me directly at louisevanderwerff@gmail.com or express your interest for the workshop on our website.
