Medicine and Surgery : a partnership dynamic for INRIA research

October 2004

Among all the research carried out at INRIA, that carried out in close partnership with medicine and surgery is probably the most likely to result in spectacular results in the short and middle terms. There is a strong impetus for progress in this field where many disciplines come together to improve treatments and patient care. Medicine has already precisely described the functioning of the human body and its organs. Computer science and automatic control are now indispensable partners in several areas.

© Electromechanical modeling of the heart in a 4D ultrasound image

• Understanding this functioning. Based on the abundant available data, coming from medical imaging for example, modeling has become a valuable tool to analyze, simulate and forecast. This approach contributes to a less invasive and more preventative medicine.
  
• Aiding doctors by providing them with organized information, more precise three-dimensional images, control tools during operations (computer aided operations with navigation tools) and medico-surgical aid robots, possibly remotely operated (interventional telemedicine, telesurgery).
  
• Automatic surveillance of an organ or a function with warning in case of potential or actual malfunctioning.