Abstract: 

Hysteroscopy, an essential gynecological procedure, enables minimally invasive examination and treatment of intrauterine issues, accessed through natural openings, reducing the need for incisions. Technological advancements have miniaturized instruments, thus facilitating outpatient procedures termed in-office hysteroscopy. However, this approach poses new challenges in patient comfort, necessitating tailored training. Virtual reality (VR) simulation, increasingly popular in minimally-invasive surgical training, offers high variability and visual realism, though some challenges still remain. This talk covers both the software and hardware aspects of designing a VR training platform for in-office hysteroscopy. We will explore how by focusing on generalization and reusability, we can create a system that meets the specific needs of a particular use case while also producing individual components that can be repurposed as versatile building blocks in various surgical simulation scenarios.

Bio:

Vladimir Poliakov acquired his Bachelors degree in electronic device engineering from Voronezh State Technical University in 2015. In 2019, he graduated from Dortmund University of Applied Science with a Masters degree in Embedded Software for Mechatronics. Same year, Vladimir joined the Robot-Assisted Surgery lab at KU Leuven to work on surgical training for in-office hysteroscopy. In 2023, Vladimir defended his PhD thesis on the topic of Advanced Surgical Training for In-Office Hysteroscopy. He is currently working as an Embedded Software Engineer at Volocopter GmbH, Germany.