NerveTrack (ultrasound system for nerve control)

2021: Announcement of NerveTrack - ultrasound systems for nerve control

In mid-March 2021 Samsung Medison Intel , they jointly developed a ULTRASONOGRAPHY NerveTrack system that determines the position of the nerves on the arm in real time and helps anesthesiologists quickly and accurately carry out regional pain relief.

Ultrasound-controlled regional anesthesia is gradually becoming standard practice for interventional procedures, including vascular access and peripheral nerve blockade. However, even with ultrasound, it is difficult for anesthesiologists to identify the necessary nerves, which can be only 2 millimeters in diameter. NerveTrack can automatically detect nerves in real time, reducing the likelihood of complications and improving the effectiveness of procedures.

NerveTrack - ultrasound system for nerve control

Using the Intel OpenVINO Computer Vision Toolkit, NerveTrack can potentially reduce scan time by up to 30%. It has been proven that NerveTrack can track the median and ulnar nerve almost throughout the forearm. In particular, this tool can be used to detect nerves even at points where the doctor can give ordinary anatomical landmarks. Thus, ultrasound examination using the new system allows you to separate the nerves from surrounding tissues and vessels and safely conduct the needle.

NerveTrack was developed on the basis of the Intel OpenVINO toolkit, which uses to determine the location of the nerve in real time during ultrasonic scanning. To train Samsung's algorithm, the company used a significant amount of clinical ultrasound data. With the Intel OpenVINO CVAT (Computer Vision Annotation Tool), the total amount of training data increased by 7 times, which led to an increase in tool accuracy by more than 20%.^[1]

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