We present a system involving a computer-instrumented fluoroscope for the purpose of 3D navigation and guidance using pre-operative diagnostic scans as a reference. The goal of the project is to devise a computer-assisted tool that will improve the accuracy, reduce risk, minimize the invasiveness, and shorten the time it takes to perform a variety of neurosurgical and orthopedic procedures of the spine. For this purpose we propose an apparatus that will track surgical tools and localize them with respect to the patient's 3D anatomy and pre-operative 3D diagnostic scans using intraoperative fluoroscopy for in situ registration and localization of embedded fiducials. Preliminary studies have found a fiducial registration error (FRE) of 1.41 mm and a Target Localization Error (TLE) of 0.48 mm. The resulting system leverages equipment already commonly available in the operating room (OR), providing an important new functionality that is free of many current limitations, such as the inadequacy of skin fiducials for spinal neuronavigation, while keeping costs contained.

Date Published: 28 May 2001
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 4319, Medical Imaging 2001: Visualization, Display, and Image-Guided Procedures, (28 May 2001); doi: 10.1117/12.428078

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4319:
Medical Imaging 2001: Visualization, Display, and Image-Guided Procedures
Seong Ki Mun, Editor(s)