(Credit: Siemens)

Researchers from Siemens Healthcare have adapted Microsoft’s Kinect gesture technology to allow surgeons to use hand and arm movements to change x-ray images and zoom in on details.

To convert surgeons’ precise hand movements into exact commands, Siemens programmers have developed algorithms that identify the surgeon’s hands and register their movements without becoming “confused” by the presence of other people in the room.

Siemens Healthcare plans to test the system in two hospitals, initially without patients.