Section: Partnerships and Cooperations

European Initiatives

RASimAs

2015 was the second year of the RASimAs project (STREP project funded under FP7) during which we developed new models of the biomechanics of the leg and arm, as well as the simulation of the insertion of the anaesthesiology needle. Regional anaesthesia has been used increasingly during the past four decades. This is due to the perceived advantages of reduced postoperative pain, earlier mobility, shorter hospital stay, and significantly lower costs. Current training methods for teaching regional anaesthesia include cadavers, video teaching, ultrasound guidance, and simple virtual patient modeling. These techniques have limited capabilities and do not consider individual anatomy. The goal of this project is to increase the application, the effectiveness and the success rates of RA and furthermore the diffusion of the method through the development VPH models for anaesthesia. The goal of the MIMESIS team is to provide the computational infrastructure for the physics-based simulation and to propose new methods for patient-specific modeling and simulation of soft tissues and their interaction with the needle, including its effect on nerve physiology.

See http://rasimas.imib.rwth-aachen.de for more details.

In the context of the RASimAS project, we collaborate with the company:

• SenseGraphics: develops next generation medical simulator software for a wide range of surgical procedures. It is used in simulators for training surgeons in various fields such as robotic surgery, eye surgery, dentistry, ultrasound interpretation and anesthesia. The simulators combine the latest technologies in real-time graphics rendering as well as advanced force feedback to allow the surgeons to have an experience that is as close to reality as possible.

With the RASimAS project, we also collaborate with: the University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen University, Bangor University, University College Cork, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Zilinska univerzita v Ziline, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Stiftelsen Sintef.