Center for Medical Innovations in Extended Reality (MIXR)

TALK OVERVIEW

MIXR, a National Science Foundation-supported joint effort between computer science and visualization experts at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the medical schools at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the University of Michigan, and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, is developing the scientific foundations for designing and assessing extended-reality (XR) applications in medicine. Collaborating with our industry partners and regulatory scientists, we are exploring the use of XR to improve public health and healthcare outcomes across education and simulation, clinical care delivery, and applying data science and machine learning to improve diagnosis and therapeutics.

MIXR has specifically identified driving applications in clinical practice, medical education and training, and regulatory standards. In service of these, we bring unique capabilities in scene acquisition, predictive modeling, immersive telepresence, human factors, and imaging and displays. Beyond these applications, we are interested in evaluating metrics and useability, 5G/6G, AI/ML, and displays for XR devices in healthcare applications.

Working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, other regulatory and standards agencies, and our industry members (currently Sony, MediView, Cook Advanced Technologies, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and Microsoft), our focus is on current gaps and evaluation challenges across a range of clinical specialties and various XR hardware and software platforms


SPEAKERS

Amitabh Varshney Ph.D.
Lead Site Principal Investigator, University of Maryland, College Park, Dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences

Sarah Murthi, MD
Partner Site Principal Investigator, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Co-Director, Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Rishindra Reddy MD, MBA
Partner Site Principal Investigator, University of Michigan,Professor MM Surgery - Thoracic Surgery, University of Michigan Medicine

Barbara Brawn M.S.
Managing Director, Center for Medical Innovations in Extended Reality (MIXR); Associate Director, Maryland Blended Reality Center (MBRC), University of Maryland, College Park

Irfan S. Ahmad, Ph.D.
Partner Site Principal Investigator Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Assistant Dean for Research, and Executive Director, Health Maker Lab

MODERATOR
Lars Riedemann, MD
Consulting Neurologist, University Hospital Heidelberg, Director Shift, Medical Conference

TOP TEN CHAPTERS
Robotics and the role of AI (00:02:38 - 00:04:01):
Lars Riedemann discusses the Mixer Coalition's efforts in integrating medical XR into clinical practice and research.

Medical device regulation and the changing landscape of XR technology (00:12:11 - 00:13:42):
Amitabh Varshney discusses the University of Maryland's capabilities in medical scenario acquisition using a 300-camera holo camera facility, and its efforts in compressing and decompressing data for simulation and training purposes.

Collaborative simulation projects and implementation hurdles (00:19:16 - 00:23:35):
Sarah Murthi discusses the foundational importance of XR in medicine.
She describes projects at Shock Trauma focused on XR applications for bedside procedures like EVD placement and intubation.

Current and upcoming projects within the Mixer program (00:33:57 - 00:39:23):
Amitabh discusses ongoing projects related to characterizing cyber sickness in XR environments and evaluating markerless registration for procedural guidance.


Implementation Challenges of XR Technology in Medical Settings (00:40:20 - 00:41:48)
Discussion of challenges arising from different rules and regulations across medical centers and schools, efforts to understand requirements and develop a national consensus, involvement of the US Air Force in developing a uniform platform.

New XR Project (00:42:24 - 00:43:00)
Brief mention of a new project focusing on interaction between latency, cyber sickness, and accommodation mismatch.

Importance of Simulation in XR Research (00:45:18 - 00:50:57)
Highlighting the importance of simulation in understanding real-life implications, collaboration with the Department of Defense for hardware development.

Challenges of Developing Medical Devices Amidst Technological Advancements (00:54:56 - 00:57:09)
Concerns about changing landscape of XR hardware and challenges of developing medical devices, emphasis on the need for robust quality assurance and management processes.

Reimbursement and Business Models for Medical XR (01:06:19 - 01:10:57)
Discussion on the uncertainty surrounding reimbursement and business models for medical XR applications, challenges in recovering R&D costs and determining pricing, importance of long-term funding and support for research initiatives like Mixer.