Brain shift is a non-rigid deformation of brain tissue that is affected by loss of cerebrospinal fluid, tissue manipulation and gravity among other phenomena. This deformation can negatively influence the outcome of a surgical procedure since surgical planning based on pre-operative image becomes less valid. We present a novel method to compensate for brain shift that maps preoperative image data to the deformed brain during intra-operative neurosurgical procedures and thus increases the likelihood of achieving a gross total resection while decreasing the risk to healthy tissue surrounding the tumor. Through a 3D/2D non-rigid registration process, a 3D articulated model derived from pre-operative imaging is aligned onto 2D images of the vessels viewed through the surgical miscroscopic intra-operatively. The articulated 3D vessels constrain a volumetric biomechanical model of the brain to propagates cortical vessel deformation to the parenchyma and in turn to the tumor. The 3D/2D non-rigid registration is performed using an energy minimization approach that satisfies both projective and physical constraints. Our method is evaluated on real and synthetic data of human brain showing both quantitative and qualitative results and exhibiting its particular suitability for real-time surgical guidance.

Date Published: 16 March 2020
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 11315, Medical Imaging 2020: Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling, 113151V (16 March 2020); doi: 10.1117/12.2547620

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 11315:
Medical Imaging 2020: Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling
Baowei Fei; Cristian A. Linte, Editor(s)