Doctoral Research

Dr. Bethany Juhnke researched the design and usability of extended reality tools to visualize patient-specific medical anatomy for the purposes of medical device design and procedural planning.

Dissertation

Juhnke, B. (2021) Three-perspective multimethod analysis of medical extended virtual reality technology. (Publication No. 2021-08) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota]. Data Repository for U of M.

Abstract

For nearly 30 years, extended reality (XR) technology has been proposed as the medical industry’s future, and yet we continue to see the slow adoption of this technology. XR is an umbrella term for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). Three factors contribute to the adoption of XR technology: research (Mazur et al., 2018), user-centered design (Zweifach & Triola, 2019), and mature technology (Riener & Harders, 2012). Mature technology reflects Riener & Harder (2012) report that current XR technology was still immature and needed further development for advanced medical scenarios. Each year, more companies and researchers present feasible methods to replace traditional training and planning methods with high-quality simulations. Amidst the medical industry’s technological advancements and interest; many simulations are severely simplified, and surgeons continue to practice medicine on live patients (Chan et al., 2013). The purpose of this research was to identify constraints, challenges, and opportunities that exist in the development, design, and usage of medical XR technology.
Justification of Research. The medical industry recognizes the need to develop high-quality simulations but is also risk-averse and conservative by training (Zweifach & Triola, 2019). Meanwhile, XR companies are actively developing XR solutions for the medical industry based on Silicon Valley’s mantra of “fail hard, fail fast, fail often.” These two trains of thought are in opposition resulting in the slow adoption of medical XR technologies. Medical professionals seek mature technology with validated research to justify the technology adoption for their specific user needs. Meanwhile, XR companies are trying to find a niche based on limited research and market-ready solutions while building a business case to justify the financial return on investment (ROI). This research analyzes the current status of medical XR technology from three perspectives.
User-Centered Design Framework. This research, guided by a user-centered design framework, improves the adoption of medical XR technology (Zweifach & Triola, 2019). User-centered design (Kling, 1977) is an iterative process that uses various methods and tools to understand the user’s needs (Figure 1). The five steps in the process include analyze, define, design, evaluate, and implement. The first step (analyze) focuses on the context of use and the user’s needs. The second step (define) establishes the requirements based on the user’s needs. The third step (design) creates a solution based on the requirements. The fourth step (evaluate) assesses the solution based on the requirements. The final step (implement) puts into practice the solution.

Journals

Juhnke, B., Marusich, K., & Erdman, A. (2025). An Industry Perspective of Challenges and Opportunities in Medical Extended Reality Technology Adoption. Human Factors in Healthcare, 100113.

Griffin, L., Juhnke, B., Pokorny, C., Seifert, E., Savvateev, E., & Yu, M. (2023). Body–Product Relationship for Aging Women Examined Through the Lens of Functional Anthropometry. Ergonomics in Design, 31(3), 13-25.

Pei, J., Griffin, L., Ashdown, S. P., Fan, J., Juhnke, B., & Curry, C. (2021). An exploratory study of bust measurements during running using 4D scanning technology. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 14(3), 302–313.

Kloesel, B., Juhnke, B., Irvine, L., Donadio, J., Erdman, A., and Belani, K. (2021). Computer-Generated Three-Dimensional Airway Models as A Decision-Support Tool for Preoperative Evaluation and Procedure-Planning in Pediatric Anesthesiology. Journal of Medical Systems, 45(2), 21.

Johnson, S., Orban, D., Runesha, H.B., Meng, L., Juhnke, B., Erdman, A., Samsel, F., and Keefe, D.F. (2019). Bento Box: An Interactive and Zoomable Small Multiples Technique for Visualizing 4D Simulation Ensembles in Virtual Reality. Frontier in Robotics and AI 6:61

Juhnke, B., Mattson, A., Saltzman, D., Azakie, A., Hoggard E., Ambrose, M., Iaizzo, P., Erdman, A., and Fischer, G. (2019) Use of Virtual Reality for Pre-Surgical Planning in Separation of Conjoined Twins: A Case Report. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine, 0954411919878067.

Proceedings

Juhnke, B., Pokorny, C., Griffin, L., & Sokolowski, S. (2020, December). Development of a Civilian 3d Hand Scan Database. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 64, No. 1, pp. 995-999). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

Juhnke, B., Pokorny, C., Griffin, L., & Sokolowski, S. (2020, July). Lend a Hand for 3D Scans: Scanning Methodology and Data Collection for Tool and Glove Design. In International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (pp. 567-574). Springer, Cham.

Pokorny, C., Juhnke, B., & Griffin, L. (2020, July). A Visible Functional Grasp to Measure the Complete Hand. In International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (pp. 589-596). Springer, Cham.

Sokolowski, S. L., Griffin, L., Juhnke, B., Pokorny, C., & Bettencourt, C. (2020, July). Qualitative Survey Methodology and Data Collection for Performance Glove Design and Fit. In International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (pp. 575-581). Springer, Cham.

Juhnke, B., Ahsan, M., Rothweiler, P., & Erdman, A. (2020). Extended Reality Tools for Deep Brain Stimulation: A Framework and Design Concepts for Procedural Planning. In 2020 Design of Medical Devices Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers Digital Collection.

Griffin, L., Juhnke, B., Seifert, E., Pokorny C., and Doran, K. (2019) Method to Capture and Analyze the Waist-Hip-Thigh Body Region of Seated -Standing 3D Scans. 3DBODY.TECH2019 – 10th International Conference and Exhibition on 3D Body Scanning and Processing Technologies, Lugano, Switzerland. October 22-23, 2019.

Griffin, L., and Juhnke., B. (2019) Application of dynamic anthropometry for product design. 2019 AHFE International, 10th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics, Washington, D.C., July 26-28, 2019.

Juhnke, B., Novotny, S., Laine, J., Toth, F., and Erdman, A. (2019) Virtual Model for Legg-Calvé-Perthes: Preliminary Work to Develop a Minimally Invasive Preclinical Model. Proceedings of the 2019 Design of Medical Devices Conference. 2019 Design of Medical Devices Conference. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. April 15-18, 2019. V001T07A005. ASME. Poster: Juhnke-DMD_2019

Orban, D., Johnson, S., Runesha H.B., Meng, L., Juhnke, B., Erdman, A., Samsel, F., and Keefe, D. (2018) Comparison of Multiple Large Fluid-Structure Interaction Simulations in Virtual Reality. IEEE 8th Symposium on Large Data Analysis and Visualization (LDAV) (pp. 110-111). IEEE.

Morgan, L., Hiremath, G., Ameduri, R., Juhnke, B., Mattson, A., Fay., D., Saltzman, D., Azakie, A., Hoggard, E., Iaizzo, P., Erdman, A., Fischer, G., and Ambrose, M. (2018) Cardiac Imaging and Virtual Reality Use in Management of Thoraco-omphalopagus Conjoined Twins. 14th SPR Advanced Symposium on Pediatric Cardiovascular Imaging. Walnut Creek, California. October 14, 2018.

Juhnke, B., Mattson, A., Saltzman, D., Azakie, A., Hoggard E., Ambrose, M., Iaizzo, P., Erdman, A., and Fischer, G. (2018) Preparing for Conjoined Twins Separation Through Virtual Reality. Proceedings of the 2018 Design of Medical Devices Conference. 2018 Design of Medical Devices Conference. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, April 9-12, 2018. V001TO8A009. ASME.

Tourek, B., Orban, D., Meng, L., Runesha, H.B., Keefe, D., and Erdman, A. (2017) Review of Cardiac Pacemaker Lead Designs for Computational Models in a VR Environment. Proceedings of the 2017 Design of Medical Devices Conference. 2017 Design of Medical Devices Conference. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. April 10–13, 2017. V001T09A010. ASME. Poster: Tourek-DMD_2017

Johnson, S., Jackson, B., Tourek, B., Molina, M., Erdman, A., and Keefe, D. (2016) Immersive Analytics for Medicine: Hybrid 2D/3D Sketch-Based Interfaces for Annotating Medical Data and Designing Medical Devices. In Proc. of the 2016 ACM Companion on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces (pp. 107-113). Association for Computing Machinery.

Besada, J., Tourek, B., Keefe, D., and Erdman, A. (2016) A Virtual Heart Valve Implant System: Characterizing the Value and Implementation Effort for Each Feature. 2016 BMES/FDA Frontiers in Medical Devices Conference, Washington, D.C., May 24, 2016. Poster: Tourek-BMES_2016

Abstracts

Griffin, L., Juhnke, B., and Seifert, E. Landmarking Method to Capture Dynamic Anthropometric Measurements of the Waist-Hip-Thigh Body Region. 2019 International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, October 25-29, 2019.

Griffin, L., Juhnke, B., and Seifert, E. Dynamic Anthropometric Analysis of the Waist-Hip-Thigh Body Region. 2019 International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, October 25-29, 2019.

Seminars

Juhnke, B., Ahsan, M., Rothweiler, P., and Erdman, A. (2019) Virtual Reality for Deep Brain Stimulation: A framework to develop procedural planning software. Institute in Engineering in Medicine Fall Retreat, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 23, 2019.

Tourek, B., Orban, D., Runesha H.B., Keefe, D., and Erdman, A. (2017) Inverse Design Process: Generating the BIG Data to Efficiently Visualize a Complete Design Space. Minnesota Supercomputing Institute Research Exhibition 2017, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 25, 2017. Poster: Tourek-MSI_2017

Tourek, B., Orban, D., Tanasoiu, B., Birali Runesha, H., Keefe, D., and Erdman, A. (2016) Inverse Design Process: New Methodology to Design Medical Devices with BIG DATA. Minnesota Supercomputing Institute Research Exhibition 2016, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 26, 2016. Poster: Tourek-MSI_2016

Tourek, B., Lin, C., Coffey, D., Orban, D., Keefe, D., and Erdman, A. (2015) A User Evaluation of Software to Optimize the Medical Device Development Process Using Finite Element Analysis Predictions. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 27, 2015.

Teaching

  • Mechanical Engineering 3221 – Design and Manufacturing 1 (Spring 2018), Teaching Assistant
  • Mechanical Engineering 2011 – Intro to Engineering (Fall 2017), Teaching Assistant
  • Physiology 4021 – Bionic Human (April 2017, March 2018), Guest Lecturer

Completed Coursework

Engineering

  • Finite Element Modeling, Analysis, and Design (ME 5228)
  • Analog and Digital Controls (ME 5281)
  • Computer-Aided Engineering (ME 5281)

Computer Science

  • Sketch-Based User Interfaces (CSCE 8980)

Business

  • New Product Design and Business Development 1 & 2 (ME 8221)

Human Anatomy

  • Advanced Cardiac Physiology (PHSL 5510)

Teaching

  • Teaching in Higher Education (GRAD 8101)
  • Teaching/Learning in Higher Ed (GRAD 8200)

Leave a comment