External tracking of an instrument by electric fields in minimally invasive surgery
This study focuses on a tracking technique for minimally invasive surgery to overcome the possible dangers by endoscopic techniques. We used the principles of electric fields to detect the position of the instrument. With a microprocessor board and a shareware tool known as Processing, a three-dimensional tracking system was developed so that the scalpel inside a patient's body can be monitored by external receivers.
A large number of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are currently under development, or being proposed, for both medical and non-medical applications. These applications include advertising, market surveys, focus groups and gaming. For example, in 2008, the Nielsen Company acquired Neurofocus, for the development of neural engineering technologies aimed at better understanding customer needs and preferences [1]. In May 2013, Samsung, in collaboration with the University of Texas, demonstrated how BCIs could be used to control mobile devices [2]. In the same month, the first neurogaming conference gathered more than 50 involved companies [3]. In September 2013, Neuroware presented Neurocam, a wearable EEG system equipped with a camera. The system is set to automatically start recording moments of interest based on inferred information from users? neural signals [4].