Diamagnetische levitatie

Met behulp van diamagnetische levitatie kan een object in de vrije ruimte in een stabiel equilibrium gebracht worden. De krachten zijn klein en zowel de permanente magneten als de diamagneten moeten zorgvuldig gekozen worden om levitatie mogelijk te maken zonder toevoeging van energie. De fysische achtergrond van diamagnetische levitatie wordt besproken samen met een aantal mogelijke toepassingen van dit fascinerende verschijnsel

Endoscopic Camera Control by Head Movements for Thoracic Surgery

In current video-assisted thoracic surgery, the endoscopic camera is operated by an assistant of the surgeon, which has several disadvantages. This paper describes a system which enables the surgeon to control the endoscopic camera without the help of an assistant. The system is controlled using head movements, so the surgeon can use his/her hands to oper- ate the instruments. The system is based on a flexible endoscope, which leaves more space for the surgeon to operate his/her instruments compared to a rigid endoscope. The endoscopic image is shown either on a monitor or by means of a head- mounted display. Several trial sessions were performed with an anatomical model. Results indicate that the developed concept may provide a solution to some of the problems currently encountered in video-assisted thoracic surgery. The use of a head-mounted display turned out to be a valuable addition since it ensures the image is always in front of the surgeon’s eyes