Using software developed for the Microsoft Kinect system, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine http://medicine.wustl.edu in St Louis have adapted hands-free technology used for the popular Xbox system to aid radiographers when taking X-rays.
The software coupled with the Kinect system can measure the thickness of body parts and check for motion, positioning, and the X-ray field of view immediately before imaging”, reports Steven Don, MD Associate professor of Radiology at the university’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology www.mir.wustl.edu.
According to Don, “Setting appropriate X-ray techniques to minimize radiation exposure depends on the thickness of the body part being imaged.” The gaming software has an infrared sensor to measure body part thickness automatically without patient contact.
Real-time monitoring alerts technologists to factors that could compromise image quality. For example, “Movement during an X-ray requires retakes, thereby increasing radiation exposure,” Don said.
The technology can benefit all patients but particularly children because of their sensitivity to radiation plus the greater variation in body sizes, which can range from premature infants to adult-sized teenagers.
Don developed the technology with William Clayton, a former computer programmer at the School of Medicine, and Robert MacDougall, Clinical Medical Physicist at Boston Children’s Hospital. With help from Washington University’s Office of Technology Management https://otm.wustl.edu the team applied for a patent last year.
This year, Don and his colleagues have received funding from Washington University and the Society for Pediatric Radiology. They will use the funding to continue research with the updated Microsoft Kinect 2.0 and will look for feedback from radiological technologists to improve the software.