This work contains the state-of-the-art in Virtual Reality as applied to Medicine. Interactive technology, used in many research and development programs, can be applied to health care by involving: robotics, computer vision, simulation, artificial intelligence, image manipulation and storage, data gloves, man-machine interfaces, etc. The Health Telematics Application Program, for example, is advancing virtual reality and enabling technologies (simulation, visualization and robotics) in health care services for patients, the elderly and persons with disabilities. This book addresses the following items from the end-user's perspective: technology transfer, telerobotics, telemedicine, education and training, and virtual reality. 'the book would (...) be useful for those researching interactive technologies in health care, especially virtual reality (...). It would be also of interest to people who want to keep abreast of the latest developments in techno-medical research.' - Rod Elford, Telemedicine Centre, Memorial University St John's, Newfoundland, Canada Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, volume 2, no. 3, 1996, p. 178 Covered by Current Contents, Life Sciences (ISI), volume 38, no. 34, August 1995, p. 11-13

Title Page -- Foreword -- Contributors -- Contents -- Part I. Virtual Reality for Health Care -- Virtual Reality for Health Care: a survey -- Human Factors Consideration in Clinical Applications of Virtual Reality -- Part II. Virtual Reality for Psychological Assessment and Rehabilitation -- Virtual Reality Therapy: An Effective Treatment for Psychological Disorders -- Virtual Reality as Assessment Tool in Psychology -- Virtual Reality for the Treatment of Autism -- Virtual Reality for the Palliative Care of Cancer -- Virtual Reality for the Treatment of Body Image Disturbances -- Development of a Virtual Sand Box: An Application of Virtual Environment for Psychological Treatment -- Part III. Virtual Reality for Neuro-Physiological Assessment and Rehabilitation -- Virtual Reality and Cognitive Assessment and Rehabilitation: The State of the Art -- Virtual Environments in Neuropsychological Assessment and Rehabilitation -- Virtual Environments for the Rehabilitation of Disorders of Attention and Movement -- Virtual Reality in the Assessment of Neuromotor Diseases: Measurement of Time Response in Real and Virtual Environments -- Virtual Reality Therapy of Multiple Sclerosis and Spinal Cord Injury: Design Considerations for a Haptic-Visual Interface -- Author Index

Micro-electronics, micro-optics and micro-mechanical components form an integral part of advanced engineered products coming under the broad area of precision engineering. This book covers theme articles and research reports covering the broad area of precision engineering.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Visualization in Biomedical Computing, VBC '96, held in Hamburg, Germany, in September 1996. The 73 revised full papers presented were selected from a total of 232 submissions. The book reports the state of the art in the field of computer based visualization in medicine and biology. The papers are organized in sections on visualization; image processing; segmentation; registration; brain: description of shape; brain: characterization of pathology; brain: visualization of function; simulation of surgery and endoscopy; image guided surgery and endoscopy.

Describes and analyzes recent breakthroughs in healthcare and biomedicine providing comprehensive coverage and definitions of important issues, concepts, new trends and advanced technologies.