Global Curriculum in Surgical Oncology

Background The significant global variations in surgical oncology training paradigms can have a detrimental effect on tackling the rising global cancer burden. While some variations in training are essential to account for the differences in types of cancer and biology, the fundamental principles of providing care to a cancer patient remain the same. The development of a global curriculum in surgical oncology with incorporated essential standards could be very useful in building an adequately trained surgical oncology workforce, which in turn could help in tackling the rising global cancer burden. Materials and Methods The leaders of the Society of Surgical Oncology and European Society of Surgical Oncology convened a global curriculum committee to develop a global curriculum in surgical oncology. Results A global curriculum in surgical oncology was developed to incorporate the required domains considered to be essential in training a surgical oncologist. The curriculum was constructed in a modular fashion to permit flexibility to suit the needs of the different regions of the world. Similarly, recognizing the various sociocultural, financial and cultural influences across the world, the proposed curriculum is aspirational and not mandatory in intent. Conclusions A global curriculum was developed which may be considered as a foundational scaffolding for training surgical oncologists worldwide. It is envisioned that this initial global curriculum will provide a flexible and modular scaffolding that can be tailored by individual countries or regions to train surgical oncologists in a way that is appropriate for practice in their local environmen

3-D super-resolution ultrasound (SR-US) imaging using a 2-D sparse array with high volumetric imaging rate

Super-resolution ultrasound imaging has been so far achieved in 3-D by mechanically scanning a volume with a linear probe, by co-aligning multiple linear probes, by using multiplexed 3-D clinical ultrasound systems, or by using 3- D ultrasound research systems. In this study, a 2-D sparse array was designed with 512 elements according to a density- tapered 2-D spiral layout and optimized to reduce the sidelobes of the transmitted beam profile. High frame rate volumetric imaging with compounded plane waves was performed using two synchronized ULA-OP256 systems. Localization-based 3-D super-resolution images of two touching sub-wavelength tubes were generated from a 120 second acquisition

3-D Motion Correction for Volumetric Super-Resolution Ultrasound Imaging

© 2018 IEEE. Motion during image acquisition can cause image degradation in all medical imaging modalities. This is particularly relevant in 2-D ultrasound imaging, since out-of-plane motion can only be compensated for movements smaller than elevational beamwidth of the transducer. Localization based super-resolution imaging creates even a more challenging motion correction task due to the requirement of a high number of acquisitions to form a single super-resolved frame. In this study, an extension of two-stage motion correction method is proposed for 3-D motion correction. Motion estimation was performed on high volumetric rate ultrasound acquisitions with a handheld probe. The capability of the proposed method was demonstrated with a 3-D microvascular flow simulation to compensate for handheld probe motion. Results showed that two-stage motion correction method reduced the average localization error from 136 to 18 μm

A Monolithic Compliant Continuum Manipulator:A Proof-of-Concept Study

Continuum robots have the potential to form an effective interface between the patient and surgeon in minimally invasive procedures. Magnetic actuation has the potential for accurate catheter steering, reducing tissue trauma and decreasing radiation exposure. In this paper, a new design of a monolithic metallic compliant continuum manipulator is presented, with flexures for precise motion. Contactless actuation is achieved using time-varying magnetic fields generated by an array of electromagnetic coils. The motion of the manipulator under magnetic actuation for planar deflection is studied. The mean errors of the theoretical model compared to experiments over three designs are found to be 1.9 mm and 5.1degrees in estimating the in-plane position and orientation of the tip of the manipulator, respectively and 1.2 mm for the whole shape of the manipulator. Maneuverability of the manipulator is demonstrated by steering it along a path of known curvature and also through a gelatin phantom which is visualized in real time using ultrasound imaging, substantiating its application as a steerable surgical manipulator

3-D Coherent Multi-Transducer Ultrasound Imaging with Sparse Spiral Arrays

Coherent multi-transducer ultrasound (CoMTUS) creates an extended effective aperture through the coherent combination of multiple arrays, which results in images with enhanced resolution, extended field-of-view, and higher sensitivity. The subwavelength localization accuracy of the multiple transducers required to coherently beamform the data is achieved by using the echoes backscattered from targeted points. In this study, CoMTUS is implemented and demonstrated for the first time in 3-D imaging using a pair of 256-element 2-D sparse spiral arrays, which keep the channel-count low and limit the amount of data to be processed. The imaging performance of the method was investigated using both simulations and phantom tests. The feasibility of free-hand operation is also experimentally demonstrated. Results show that, in comparison to a single dense array system using the same total number of active elements, the proposed CoMTUS system improves spatial resolution (up to 10 times) in the direction where both arrays are aligned, contrast-to-noise-ratio (CNR, up to 30%), and generalized CNR (up to 11%). Overall, CoMTUS shows narrower main lobe and higher contrast-to-noise-ratio, which results in an increased dynamic range and better target detectability.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure