Next time your parents tell you to stop playing XBox, just tell them you’re practicing to become a brain surgeon. Iowa State engineers have created a way for doctors to plan a surgery or teach anatomy using an accurate, 3-D view of the inside of a patient’s body.

Using an Xbox game controller, doctors can look at a video screen while using the buttons and joystick on the controller to shift, adjust, turn, zoom, and replay while moving through a patient’s chest cavity to get an up-close look of the heart. The software uses real patient data from CT and MRI scans, can help doctors plan a round of radiation therapy, and will enable students to get a better feel for the inside of a human body.

Here’s a quick demo of what it looks like:

Filed under: Biomedical, Computer, e-News

Tags: Biomedical, Computer