The remarkable accomplishments of the IT industry and the Internet are trickling steadily into healthcare. This series provides more effective healthcare at a lower overall cost, driven by cheaper and better computers.

Our culture is obsessed with design. Sometimes designers can fuse utility and fantasy to make the mundane appear fresh—a cosmetic repackaging of the same old thing. Because of this, medicine—grounded in the unforgiving realities of the scientific method and peer review, and of flesh, blood, and pain—can sometimes confuse “design” with mere “prettifying.” Design solves real problems, however. This collection of papers underwrites the importance of design for the MMVR community, within three different environments: in vivo, in vitro and in silico. in vivo: we design machines to explore our living bodies. Imaging devices, robots, and sensors move constantly inward, operating within smaller dimensions: system, organ, cell, DNA. in vitro: Using test tubes and Petri dishes, we isolate in vivo to better manipulate and measure biological conditions and reactions. in silico: We step out of the controlled in vitro environment and into a virtual reality. The silica mini-worlds of test tubes and Petri dishes are translated into mini-worlds contained within silicon chips. The future of medicine remains within all three environments: in vivo, in vitro, and in silico. Design is what makes these pieces fit together—the biological, the informational, the physical/material—into something new and more useful.

MMVR offers solutions for problems in clinical care through the phenomenally expanding potential of computer technology. Computer-based tools promise to improve healthcare while reducing cost - a vital requirement in today's economic environment. This seventh annual MMVR focuses on the healthcare needs of women. Women every where demand more attention to breast cancer, cervical cancer, ageing-related conditions. Electronic tools provide the means to revolutionise diagnosis, treatment and education. The book demonstrates what new tools can improve the care of their female patients. As minimally invasive procedures are mainstreamed, advanced imaging and robotics tools become indispensable. The internet and other networks establish new venues for communication and research. Medical education, as well as clinical care, is enhanced by systems allowing instruction and professional interaction in ways never before possible and with efficiency never before achieved. Telemedicine networks now permit providers to meet patients needs where previously impossible. MMVR strengthens the link between healthcare providers and their patients. The volume contains selected papers authored by presenters at the conference. Areas of focus include Computer-Assisted Surgery, Data Fusion & Informatics, Diagnostic Tools, Education & Training, Mental Health, Modelling, Net Architecture, Robotics, Simulation, Telemedicine, Telepresence and Visualisation.

A Prototype Virtual Reality System for Preoperative Planning of Neuro-Endovascular Interventions -- Validation of Soft Tissue Properties in Surgical Simulation with Haptic Feedback -- Comparison of CAVE and HM for Visual Stimulation in Postural Control Research -- Virtual Vision Loss Simulator -- Reaction-Time Measurement and Real-Tune Data Acquisition for Neuroscientific Experiments in Virtual Environments -- A Preliminary Study of Presence inVirtual Reality Training Simulation for Medical Emergencies -- An Ali System with Intuitive User Interface for Manipulation and Visualization of 3D Medical Data -- A Haptic Surgical Simulator for the Continuous Curvilinear Capsulorhexis Procedure During Cataract Surgery -- Haptic Rendering of Tissue Cutting with Scissors -- Increasing face validity of a vascular interventional training system -- An Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Training System for Assessment of Surgical Skill -- Acquiring Laparoscopic Manipulative Skills: A Virtual Tissue Dissection Training Module -- Novel Force Resolver Designs for a Haptic Surgery Simulator -- Author Index