MRUCT: Mixed Reality Assistance for Acupuncture Guided by Ultrasonic Computed Tomography
Journal:
arXiv
Published Date:
Feb 12, 2025
Abstract
Chinese acupuncture practitioners primarily depend on muscle memory and
tactile feedback to insert needles and accurately target acupuncture points, as
the current workflow lacks imaging modalities and visual aids. Consequently,
new practitioners often learn through trial and error, requiring years of
experience to become proficient and earn the trust of patients. Medical
students face similar challenges in mastering this skill. To address these
challenges, we developed an innovative system, MRUCT, that integrates
ultrasonic computed tomography (UCT) with mixed reality (MR) technology to
visualize acupuncture points in real-time. This system offers offline image
registration and real-time guidance during needle insertion, enabling them to
accurately position needles based on anatomical structures such as bones,
muscles, and auto-generated reference points, with the potential for clinical
implementation. In this paper, we outline the non-rigid registration methods
used to reconstruct anatomical structures from UCT data, as well as the key
design considerations of the MR system. We evaluated two different 3D user
interface (3DUI) designs and compared the performance of our system to
traditional workflows for both new practitioners and medical students. The
results highlight the potential of MR to enhance therapeutic medical practices
and demonstrate the effectiveness of the system we developed.
