CARNEGIE MELLON DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICA L E NGINEERING


Rabin and Shimada Win $1.3 Million Grant New Training Tools Will Assist in Cancer Surgery


Yoed Rabin


MechE Professors Yoed Rabin and Kenji Shimada have won national attention—and a four-year, $1.3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI)—by developing and demonstrating new computerized training tools that aid doctors in performing cryosurgery. Because it offers the potential to destroy cancer and other undesired tissue in a minimally invasive manner, cryosurgery—which involves targeting small areas of tissue and freezing them—is gaining new and well-deserved recognition in the global medical community. During cryosurgery, probes in the shape of


Kenji Shimada


long hypodermic needles with a cooling tip are inserted into a tumor or other unwanted tissue.The probes’ placement, and subsequent freezing process, are monitored by doctors via


an imaging technology such as ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).


While this technique is increasing in use, surgeons today have to


rely on their own intuition, personal experience, and observation to determine how well specific surgeries are progressing. Because each case is different, it is often difficult to tell if enough cryoprobes are being used to completely obliterate cancerous cells, while leaving surrounding healthy cells unaffected.


Operating in a Virtual Environment The NCI-funded project is supporting Rabin and Shimada as they develop new training tools that enable cryosurgeons to practice their surgical technique in a virtual environment, before operating on an actual patient.


NCI


Using an interactive simulator created by the MechE professors, surgeons can walk through the various steps involved in cryosurgery: inserting probes, analyzing the thermal field and its effects on cells, and making adjustments in the number and placement of probes. Shimada and Rabin have also created a computerized tutor that helps doctors evaluate the quality of simulated clinical cases. Rabin, an expert in biothermal technology with more than 18


years of experience in this field, says, “This is a revolutionary concept of enhancing surgical training by practicing a virtual cryosurgical procedure. Nothing like this technology has ever existed before.” “The simulator is like a video game,” adds Shimada, who is


an expert in computational modeling and simulation for product design, engineering analysis, and factory automation. “Surgeons can try out various probe placements without risk, visualize frozen regions with intuitive 3D computer graphics, and benchmark their


performance with hundreds of cases stored in a database. It is a motivational and effective way of improving their surgical skills and patient outcomes.”


Gauging Outcomes During Surgery Rabin has also received a two-year, $430,000 award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to focus on a complementary project: developing tiny wireless sensors that measure actual temperatures achieved during cryosurgery.This second effort mirrors the first, as both are aimed at increasing the effectiveness of surgeons and minimizing risk for patients. In this project, Rabin is developing thermal sensors, about the size


of a grain of rice, that are placed in targeted tissue during cryosurgery. By sending digital temperature readings to a nearby computer, these wireless transmitters will give doctors a more complete picture of the thermal changes taking place during their actual procedures.


These images show a computerized simulation and planning of prostate cryosurgery. The top left image shows the prostate and cryo-needles, while the top right shows the simulated formation of ice balls as surgery progresses.The bottom left graphic shows a frozen region of tissue (blue). At bottom right is a map of temperature distribution during surgery.


Cryosurgery has applications for many diseases, but today it is


primarily targeted at prostate cancer, which is the second-leading cause of cancer death in men. With nearly 200,000 new cases of prostate cancer diagnosed each year, the work of these two innova- tive MechE professors is expected to have far-reaching benefits.•


C ARNEGIE M ECH I 15


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