The Interventional Centre

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New PhD on "QoS Provisioning for Wireless Sensor Networks: Algorithms, Protocols and Modeling"
– Xuedong Liang defended his thesis in a dissertation originating from the Interventional Centre, Oslo Univerity Hospital Rikshospitalet and the Precice Modeling Group, Department of Informatics at University of Oslo on December 21st 2009. The first opponent was Professor Xiaoming Fu, Institute of Computer Science, Georg-August-University of Goettingen, the second opponent was Research Scientist Yan Zhang, Simula Research Laboratory and the commision leader was Associate Professor Martin Steffen, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo. The main superviser was Ilangko Balasingham, and co-advisers were Olaf Owe og Einar Broch Johnsen. The university representative at the dissertation was Dag Langmyhr. Xuedong Liang's work included 10 scientific papers (authored and/or co-authored) rated as not trivial by one of the opponents, but rather as improtant contributions on the QoS field. The topic of the trial lecture was Localization in Wireless Networks.
Minister of Research and Higher Education visited the Interventional Centre
– Tora Aasland, Minister of Reserach and Higher Education from Ministry of Education and Higher Research visited the Interventional Centre after a 3 hour meeting at Rikshospitalet Oslo University Hospital (OUS). The Minister met with leaders from Pharmaceutical industry including Karita Bekkemellem (The Association of the Norwegian Pharmaceuitical Industry-LMI), Gunnar Sæther (MSD), Erlend B. Smeland, leader of Research and Innnovation at OUS, Steinar Aamdal, MD, leader of the Clinical Research and Test Unit at Radiumhospitalet OUS and professor Erik Fosse from the Interventional Centre. Among topics discussed were how to improve collaboration between pharmaceutical industy and Norwegian hospitals and what role the government could play. One of the objectives of LMI is to increase the pharmaceutical research in Norway. After the meeting the Minister visited the clinical facilities at the Interventional Centre and was guided through the specialized operating rooms by research nurse Karl Øyri. See the LMI website for more information (in Norwegian) >>>. Photo: Marianne H Aandahl, Federation of Norwegian Industries.
Best Abstract Price to researcher from the Interventional Centre
– Anesthesiologist and PhD student Søren Pischke was awarded an Abstract Price at the 2009 Autumn Meeting of the Norwegian Anesthesiology Society. The abstract describes researh work performed at the Interventional Centre and is presented here: Hepatic and intestinal PCO2 measurement for real-time detection of hepatic artery and/or portal vein occlusion. Liver ischemia is a potentially life-threatening condition occurring in the course of liver transplantation, liver surgery and circulatory shock. Following liver transplantation hepatic artery (HA) stenosis and portal vein (PV) obstruction occur in 3 – 12 % of the patients, and more frequently in children than adults. Today, standard of care is Doppler ultrasound and liver enzyme assessment daily. Accordingly, detection of severe hypoperfusion may be delayed. Continuous monitoring of intrahepatic and intestinal PCO2 may be an opportunity for early detection of ischemia as tissue CO2 increases during ischemia by HCO3 buffering anaerobically produced lactic acid.Blood flow reduction in either HA, PV or both leads to alterations in intermediary metabolism in the liver. Intrahepatic and intestinal CO2 measurement as a marker for anaerobic metabolism detects these changes and enables correct diagnosis of the affected vessel.
New PhD Thesis from the Interventional Centre
– Bjørn Erik Mørk defended his thesis Changing practices- A practice based study of cross-diciplinary technology development in hospitals from the Interventional Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Faculty of Medicine at University of Oslo, Department of Leadership and Organizational Management, BI Norwegian School of Management, Oslo and Institute of Health Management and Health Economics at University of Oslo. This study examined why breakthroughs in knowledge may fail to be translated into medical practice. These novel practices often lack alignment with existing practices, or they cut across established professional boundaries and power structures. Despite this, we know that establishing practices across heterogeneous groups of actors, i.e. science, politics and industry, can facilitate interactive innovations. This project investigated how this was accomplished in practice in the context of cross-disciplinary technology development in hospitals. The dissertation is based on a longitudinal study of the Interventional Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Norway.
MRgHIFU at the Interventional Centre
– Magnetic Resonance guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasounds (MRgHIFU) has recently been installed at the Interventional Centre – Rikshospitalet by Philips Healthcare [1]. This is one of the few systems available in the world for completely non-invasive (without any inonizing radiation involved) treatment of Uterine Fibroids [Figure 1]. Patients treatment is about to be started in a few weeks.MRgHIFU [2,3] may be a disruptive technology in the future by its total non-invasiveness compared to surgery or even radiation therapy where unwanted ionising radiation dose deposits always is an issue. Thus, target tissues (fibroids and tumours) can be destroyed without any device insertion in the body. Figure 1: Shematic view of MR guided HIFU treatment of Uterine Fibroid (Courtesy: Philips Healthcare, The Netherlands). Klick image for larger view.
Interventional Centre partner in new European Commission FP7 Project: IIIOS
– The Initial Training Networks project IIIOS is initiated by Andreas Melzer at University of Dundee. Reserarchers from the Interventional Centre have formerly collaborated with Dr Melzer through the Society for Medical Innovation and Technology (SMIT). The Interventional Centre will be responsible for research and training in MR image guided cardiovascular procedures. The Interventional Centre will participate both as a clinical and technological partner in this field. Research will include new concepts to improve the intraoperative MR suit and the hybrid angiographic room through the development of new intraoperative image navigation tools. Ole Jakob Elle and Per Kristian Hol will coordinate the participation from IVC at a technological and clinical level respectively, and Frederic Courivaud will be responsible for the MR-related technology development. IVS will be funded by 74 person months and given a total budget of approximately 4 mill NOK over four years by the project. The funding might be subject to changes through negotiations with the European Commision.
Interventional Centre partner in new European Commission FP7 Project: SCATh
– The Smart Catheterization (SCATh) project is a spin-off from the Marie Curie project ARISER that The Interventional Centre coordinated from 2004 to 2008. The SCATh-project was initiated by one of the ARISER partners (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) by Jos Vander Sloten and Mauro Sette. The Interventional Centre is as a partner responsible for the development of catheter tracking/navigation in MR and clinical application and relevance. From The Interventional Centre Ole Jakob Elle will coordinate the IVC participation, with Frederic Courivaud responsible for the MR technology, Per Kristian for radiological aspects and Jacob Bergsland responsible for cardiac applications. IVS will be funded by 54 person months and given a total budget of approximately 3,7 mill NOK over four years by the project.
Live demo of new epicardial sensors
– Reseachers from the Interventional Centre at Rikshospitalet Oslo University Hospital demonstrated 3 different new epicardial sensors live at a Workshop with the topic "Technology demo session: In-vivosensors in surgery" at the pHealth Conference on June 24th 2009. The sensors represents various stages of research based,experimental product development at the Interventional Centre. The sensors presented were a 3-axis accelerometer, an ultra sound sensor and a pCO2 sensor (Alertis Medical). All sensors represent a new type of sensors capable of local ischemia detection from heartbeat to heartbeat. The accelerometer and the ultra sound sensors are also able to detect changes in ventricular contraction patterns.
New PhD about Improved brain tumor diagnostics
– Physicist and researcher Kyrre Eeg Emblem from the Interventional Centre has in his doctoral work developed new methods for faster and more accurate diagnosis of primary brain tumors. The dissertation took place on June 30th 2009 at Faculty Division Rikshospitalet, University of Oslo. Patients with suspected brain tumors are currently referred to MR (Magnetic Resonance) imaging for evaluation of tumor status and for planning of further treatment. With existing methods, the results of this MR exam are dependent on the physician and thus subjective, which in turn can have consequences for the patient's treatment plan. In the dissertation "Combined structural, microvascular and functional mapping of brain tumors for improved diagnosis and treatment planning” Kyrre Eeg Emblem and his colleagues have shown that automated computer models can replace the current user-dependent image interpretation and that such automated methods may provide more objective and reproducible results. The dissertation present methods which are part of a larger database where information and experiences from hundreds of previous MR exams are used to improve prediction of disease status and expected response to treatment in new patients. Especially analysis of blood volume measurements in tumors, so-called MR perfusion imaging, has been a central element in the dissertation.
Master students needed for EHR access project
– The majority of Norwegian hospitals have implemented electronic health records (EHR). The Interventional Centre (IVS) at Rikshospitalet has started a project to develop an automated translation service application to help patients understand the content of their EHR and thereby pave the way for better communication between health organizations and citizens. This is achieved by EHR text processing and cross mapping of medical terms to medical dictionary resources. The objective is to provide patients with electronic tools that automatically can display explanations of the medically complex EHR contents. As part of the development of the automated translation service, our team at IVS is conducting studies to gather data concerning patient understanding of Electronic Health Record (EHR) medical documents. These studies look at the types of information provided to patients by healthcare professionals, how patients understand received information, as well as how they use information from their own EHR documentation. We are conducting our evaluation study with thoracic surgery patients at Rikshospitalet.
One of the world's first Single Port Laparoscopic Liver Surgery Cases
– A surgical team lead by Bjørn Edwin MD, PhD, from the Interventional Centre and Bård Røsok MD, PhD from Department of Surgery Rikshospitalet performed a laparoscopic liver resection with the LESS device from Olympus this week, and became among the first in the world to use this approach on liver metastasis surgery. The tri-port system was used, and an image from the procedure can be seen to the right. The LESS device potentially leaves the patient with only one small and practically speaking invisible scar after surgery. Another procedure that recently has been performed with Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS from Covidien) technique is a cholcystectomy. This procedure was done by Elisabeth Hegstad MD, PhD, Bjørn Edwin and Arne Rosseland MD, PhD from the Interventional Centre earlier this spring. At the same time a similar procedure was performed for the first time in Denmark at Århus Hospital.
European endovascular aneurism repair (EVAR) Live Case Workshop
– On May 11 and 12th 2009 European interventional radiologists and vascular surgeons took part in a EVAR live Case Workshop at Rikshospitalet. The workshop was hosted by Department of Thorasic Surgery, and was opened by head of department professor Odd Geiran. On the first day the vendor's technical aspects and clinical experiences were presented and discussed. Kirsten Krohg-Sørensen, MD PhD, presented the TAA experiences and material from Oslo. On the second day two live EVAR cases were transmitted from the hybrid surgery/angio OR at the Interventional Centre to an auditorium at the hospital. Discussions took place between the OR and the auditorium during both procedures. The participants came from Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Norway, and Germany.
Nordic Symposium in Laparoscopic Liver Surgery
– The first Nordic Symposium in laparoscopic liver surgery was arranged at the Interventional Centre on April 28-29th 2009 in collaboration with the Norwegian Thoraco-Laparoscopic Assosciation and Covidien. The main objective of the symposium was to set the agenda for an increased knowledge base for laparoscopic liver surgery within the Nordic countries. The course was led by dr. Bjørn Edwin from the Interventional Centre. Dr. Edwin has a wide experience in laparoscopic liver surgery. The two day symposium was set as interactive sessions where live surgical cases were transmitted from an operating room to an auditorium with two way communication between the OR and the auditorium. Lectures in the auditorium included Liver anatomy, Getting started with LLS, Limits of LLS, Gasebolism, LLS Single Centre Material, Open versus laparoscopic resection, Present and future of Left and Right LLS, Treatment of cholanngiomas-laparoscopy an option?, Laparoscopic approach to hepatocellular carcinomas and finally Neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy- influence on the surgical technique. There were 40 participants in the symposium in total. The image shows the auditorium were the interactive sessions were moderated by dr. Arne Rosseland, with two cameras showing internal and external views from the live surgery.
2 live open heart surgery cases in Mitral Valve Surgery Symposium
– The Norwegian Thorasic Surgery Association and Department of Thorasic Surgery at Rikshopitalet hosted a symposium on Mitral Valve-Preseving Surgery on April 17th at the annual spring meeting. Two live mitral valve-preserving cases were transmitted from the Interventional Centre to an auditorium at the hospital. The first mini-invasive case was performed by the French cardiac surgeon professor Obadia. The second live case was performed with conventional open surgical technique by professor Alfieri from Italy. Intra-operative echo cardiography status and hemodynamics were demonstrated during both operations by cardiologist dr. Kai Andersen (seen on illustration) from Rikshospitalet. Excellent results were shown in both cases. The Symposium programme also included presentations on; Mitral valve surgery and indications for concomitant treatment of atrial fibrillation- status and results overview, Indications for catheter ablation and surgery of atrial fibrillation, Echocardiography in mitral valve disease as a guide for cardiac surgeons, and finally the Benefits and pitfalls of mini-invasive mitral valve surgery.
New Cochlear Implant project
– The Department of Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Surgery has started a project to evaluate cochlear implants (CI-video from YouTube) surgery at the Interventional Centre. Before the operations the patients are functioning as deaf with the diagnosis anacusis. CI surgery is performed in a highly specialized surgical procedure where tiny electrodes are placed in internal anatomical structures of the patients ear, the spiral-shaped cochlea, to stimulate the patient's hearing nerve directly. Parts of the CI device is also placed under the skin behind the patients ear. A surgical microscope is used during the procedure, and biomedical engineers verify the electrode placement by use of sophisticated software for measurements of nerve stimulation. The combined angio and surgery suite at the Interventional centre facilitates high quality CT-scans to verify optimal CI electrode position in the patients inner ear. The positioning of the electrode is critical for the patient's outcome, thus thoroughly investigated in the project. CI electodes from different vendors are scrutinized in the project, and the ENT team lead by dr Greg Jablonski is very exited about the advanced tecnological set-up in the OR at the Interventional Centre. On the picture to the right Dr. Jablonski can be seen using the surgical microscope, and the X-ray C-bow attached to an industrial robot is seen in the background. The ENT surgeons hope to be able to develop and use intraoperative image support to optimize electrode placement in the future.
Laparoscopy teleconference lecture from Oslo to Zarajevo
– Today dr. Bjorn Edwin, senior abdominal surgeon at the Interventional Centre and the Department of Surgery at Rikshospitalet, gave a teleconference lecture on laparoscopic distal pancreas resection to the staff at Department of Abdominal Surgery at Zarajevo University Hospital in Bosnia and Hercegovina. Dr. Edwin has a patient material in distal laparoscopic pancreatic resection of more than 170 patients, some dating back to 1997. He described the patient population in general including follow-up results indicating a shift towards treating this patient group not as acute cases but cases with chronic disease and long time survival with laparoscopic treatment. Then he went on to describe surgical techniques and important issues related to dissection, anatomical landmarks and surgical instruments. Finally dr. Edwin presented a number of cases in a video. The session was ended with some comments and remarks from Zarajevo, and the conclusion was to establish a closer collaboration between the two surgical centres.
Symposium for Professor Halfdan Ihlen
– A symposium with the title "Echocardiography- the new stethoscope" was held at Rikshospitalet on Mach 19th in conjunction with professor Halfdan Ihlen's retirement. Over many decades professor Ihlen has been one of the leading profiles within cardiology. He also is one of the true pioneers in the development of-, and clinial use of non-invasive echocardiography both at Rikshospitalet and internationally. He established per-operative echocardiography in cardiac surgery at Rikshospitalet, leading to a permanent collaboration between cardiologists and cardiac surgons. His impressing research merits includes 139 scientific papers, supervision of 9 PhD's, co-supervision of another 16 PhD's, and a large number of scientific presentations nationally and internationaly. Many of professor Ihlen's publications are published in top-rated journals, including Cardiology. Halfdan Ihlen held a professorate at the Interventional Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo from 2002-2008. At the symposium the vital professor Ihlen summarised the development in echocardiography over the last three decades. The rest of the Symposium programme was on the level of any state-of-the-art conference in cardiology.
eHealth collaboration with Bosnia Hercegovina
– The Interventional Centre and the IT Department at Rikshospitalet have started a collaboration with the authorities in Bosnia Hercegovina to establish a health portal in Bosnia Hercegovina. The project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support peacemaking activities in the region. The Bosnian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sven Alkalaj, the Bosnian Ambassador Elma Kovacevic and the Norwegian Ambassador in Bosnia Jan Braathu participated in a reception at Rikshospitalet on March 6th. The hospital's CEO Morten Reymert and Jacob Bergsland from the Interventional Centre also participated together with the staff at the centre. The collaboration between Bosnia and Rikshospitalet dates back to the mid 90'ties when Norwegian physicians went to Bosnia after the war. Several surgeons, cardiologists, radiologists and nurses from the Cardiovascular Clinic in Tuzla have visited Rikshospitalet over the years, and videoconferencing has been used to facilitate collaboration and education. Bosnia and Hercegovina has a lot of skilled manpower resources, and the project contributes to fund an advanced electronic platform for use within the Bosnian health sector.
The Interventional Centre involved in pHealth 2009
– The 6th edition of the International Workshop on Wearable, Micro, and Nano Technologies for Personalized Health, pHealth, will take place in Oslo, Norway, 24-26 June 2009.pHealth 2009 continues the tradition of the previous series of workshops by bringing together key players from all aspects of healthcare and technology to inform, discuss, debate, and learn about how personalized healthcare systems can help meet future healthcare needs. This year's workshop will focus how to face the health care needs in the near future. Organisers of the event are the Interventional Centre, the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine and SINTEF.
Erik Fosse honoured for engagement in Gaza
– Leader of the Interventional Centre, professor Erik Fosse was honoured for his engagement to save Palestinian lives during the recent war in Gaza. Dr. Fosse and Dr. Mats Gilbert from Tromsø, both representing the humanitarian organization Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC), turned out to be the only foreign health care workers to witness the initial phase of the Israeli attack on Gaza. In a reception last monday hosted by Rikshospitalet CEO Morten Reymert, a representative from the Minister of Health and Care Services, South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority CEO Bente Mikkelsen and Oslo University Board leader Steinar Martinsen thanked professor Fosse for risking his life to save lives of children, women and men at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Erik Fosse gave a presentation with a summary of what had happened. Fosse and Gilbert have written a Special Report "Inside Al-Shifa Hospital" that has been published in the leading medical journal The Lancet. The January 17th 2009 issue of the journal also has an Editorial "The medical conditions in Gaza" commenting on Fosse and Gilberts brave actions and stating that "-the collective punishment of Gazans is placing horrific and immediate burdens of injury and trauma on innocent civilians". Dr. Fosse is now on a 4 months leave to write a book together with Dr. Gilbert.

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The Interventional Centre receives donations to medical research. Questions related to donations can be sent to head of department professor Erik Fosse.