Developing X-ray vision for doctors

Scientists have developed a handheld device that makes the human body seem translucent right in front of our eyes. The Sonic Flashlight developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in the US combines various technologies to effectively give the user X-ray vision. Doctors currently use ultrasound to guide invasive procedures, such as inserting a needle in the blood vessel, but to do so, they must look away from the patient at an ultrasound display screen. This causes a displaced sense of hand-eye coordination. The awkwardness of current methods of using ultrasound makes the sonic flashlight necessary. The new device would make such an operation much easier as a doctor would be able to look right at their hands as they work. The sonic flashlight positions an ultrasound scanner and an ultrasound monitor on opposite sides of a see-through mirror. It works by merging images conveyed by ultrasound and translucent mirrors. The device looks like a small windowpane attached to a ray gun, which produces a live ultrasound scan when placed against a patient's body. As the doctor look through the mirror at a patient, the monitor projects the ultrasound image onto the mirror. The image lines up with the part of the body being viewed. The result is an ultrasound image that appears to occupy the same physical space as the part of the body being imaged. Even if the viewing angle changes, the combined images remain true. The effect relies on precise geometric relationships between the ultrasound slice being scanned, the monitor displaying the slice, and the mirror. According to researchers the device could be used to make many surgical and diagnostic procedures such as brain surgery much safer. This does not require any training. The device is light and portable. Anybody can pick it up and understand intuitively what they are looking at. The researchers are now planning to conduct clinical trials of the device and look into other uses for it.