3D Keyhole Surgery at the Forefront of Cutting-edge Research

GUILDFORD, England, December 14, 2010 - Doctors will shortly be performing the world's first remote 3D keyhole
surgery during a symposium at the University of Surrey. Keyhole surgery -
where doctors operate on organs through a tiny incision - reduces the length
of hospital stays and post-operative complications. This also means that
patients experience less scarring and pain. 3D keyhole surgery is a
state-of-the-art extension of standard keyhole surgery that uses 3D cameras
like those used to make the film 'Avatar'. It puts the surgeon right inside
the patient's body and significantly improves accuracy.

This surgical breakthrough forms part of a large-scale study into
operator fatigue using 3D surgical equipment that arises from a collaboration
between surgeons at the Royal Surrey County Hospital and academics at the
University of Surrey. As well as surgical evaluation, cutting-edge research,
led by Dr David Windridge of the University's Centre for Vision, Speech and
Signal Processing, will seek to measure the changes in a surgeon's focus of
attention during prolonged operations by incorporating eye-tracking and
computer-vision technology into the 3D surgical environment.

This research consequently offers a unique opportunity both to improve
surgical safety and to further our understanding of how the human brain
functions while performing tasks involving complex hand-eye coordination.

Dr Windridge comments: "By measuring attention while performing
operations using state-of-the-art 3D surgical equipment, this collaboration
between surgeons and academics at the University of Surrey gives us a unique
opportunity both to improve surgical safety and also address far-reaching
questions how the human mind focuses attention while performing complex
tasks."

Video footage of this project can be accessed at:
tinyurl.com/34v6654

For more information on the symposium please visit:
tinyurl.com/39tu5d2

Notes to Editors

About the University of Surrey

The University of Surrey is one of the UK's leading professional,
scientific and technological universities with a world class research profile
and a reputation for excellence in teaching and research. Ground-breaking
research at the University is bringing direct benefit to all spheres of life
- helping industry to maintain its competitive edge and creating improvements
in the areas of health, medicine, space science, the environment,
communications, defence and social policy. Programmes in science and
technology have gained widespread recognition and it also boasts flourishing
programmes in dance and music, social sciences, management and languages and
law. In addition to the campus on 150 hectares just outside Guildford,
Surrey, the University also owns and runs the Surrey Research Park, which
provides facilities for 140 companies employing 2,700 staff.

The Sunday Times names Surrey as 'The University for Jobs' which
underlines the university's growing reputation for providing high quality,
relevant degrees.

Surrey is a member of the 1994 Group of 19 leading research-intensive
universities. The Group was established in 1994 to promote excellence in
university research and teaching. Each member undertakes diverse and
high-quality research, while ensuring excellent levels of teaching and
student experience.

www.1994group.ac.uk

The Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing

The Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing is one of the major
research centres of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences of the
University of Surrey. Its aim is to advance the state of the art in
multimedia signal processing and computer vision, with a focus on image,
video and audio applications.

Media enquiries: Peter La, Press Office at the University of Surrey,
Tel: +44(0)1483-689191 or E-mail: p.la@surrey.ac.uk

Media enquiries: Peter La, Press Office at the University of Surrey, Tel: +44(0)1483-689191 or E-mail: p.la at surrey.ac.uk