The mission of EndoCAS is to develop breakthrough technologies based on engineering and information technologies to improve the current surgical procedures and reduce their invasiveness by means of an optimal use of medical imaging.

The research areas addressed by the Centre are:

• Development of segmentation software for the generation of patient specific 3D models;
• Surgical navigation systems for mininvasive treatments;
• Robotic surgical guidance;
• Augmented/Mixed reality and simulators for training and optimal planning of surgical interventions.

EndoCAS applies computer assisted surgery (CAS) systems to demonstrate their effectiveness and encourages their market exploitation, offers analysis of the effectiveness and cost-benefit ratio and validation of both commercial and custom-made systems.

STRATEGIC APPROACH

The strategic approach of EndoCAS is depicted in the figure below.

The figure illustrates, in the path from top to bottom, the flow of requirements of clinical applications into the definition of specifications of CAS system and into basic research; and, in the opposite direction, from bottom to top, the flow of research through basic technology into CAS systems families and, ultimately, into clinical applications.

There are crucial feedback paths at all levels. Clinical applications provide focus and practical validation of the effectiveness provided by the engineered systems families. The need for specific system capabilities, in turn, creates requirements for well-engineered subsystems and enabling component technologies and standards.

Developing these capabilities further requires fundamental advances in knowledge and basic computational techniques. Furthermore, the systems and components provide the essential infrastructure for test and validation of the research.