A computer interface that recognizes hand gestures lets surgeons browse medical images in an OR and without touching controls. The camera based, gesture-recognition system developed by researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel quickly interprets users' gestures to manipulate objects on a large flat-panel monitor in an OR. Gestures let physicians switch between directional navigation, zoom, rotate, and a sleep state. A test conducted during a live brain biopsy let neurosurgeons browse MRI images of the patient's brain using the hand gestures. The surgeons say the system was easy-to-use, fast, and functional.

Physicians first calibrate the system by letting it recognize the surgeons' hand gestures. “Then they must learn eight navigation gestures, rapidly moving the hand away from a neutral area and back again,” says project principal investigator Helman Stern. Users can also zoom in or out by moving the hand clockwise or counterclockwise. To avoid unintended signals, the system enters a sleep mode by dropping the hand. Ongoing research may add voice control.