Development of a surgical navigation system based on augmented reality using an optical see-through head-mounted display

• Published in: Journal of biomedical informatics 2015-06, Vol.55, p.124-131
• Main Authors: Chen, Xiaojun, Xu, Lu, Wang, Yiping, Wang, Huixiang, Wang, Fang, Zeng, Xiangsen, Wang, Qiugen, Egger, Jan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Augmented reality; Calibration; Computer Graphics - instrumentation; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Head; Head Protective Devices; Helmet mounted displays; Humans; Image Enhancement - instrumentation; Imaging, Three-Dimensional - instrumentation; Intra-operative motion tracking; Navigation systems; Optical see-through HMD; Patients; Real time; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Surgery; Surgery, Computer-Assisted - instrumentation; Surgical navigation; Three dimensional; User-Computer Interface
• ISSN: 1532-0464; 1532-0480
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbi.2015.04.003

[Display omitted] •An Augmented Reality (AR)-based surgical navigation system was developed.•The real- and virtual-world views are fused in the HMD during the surgery.•Some disadvantages of the traditional surgical navigation will be overcome.•The accuracy was sufficient to meet the clinical requirements. The surgical navigation system has experienced tremendous development over the past decades for minimizing the risks and improving the precision of the surgery. Nowadays, Augmented Reality (AR)-based surgical navigation is a promising technology for clinical applications. In the AR system, virtual and actual reality are mixed, offering real-time, high-quality visualization of an extensive variety of information to the users (Moussa et al., 2012) [1]. For example, virtual anatomical structures such as soft tissues, blood vessels and nerves can be integrated with the real-world scenario in real time. In this study, an AR-based surgical navigation system (AR-SNS) is developed using an optical see-through HMD (head-mounted display), aiming at improving the safety and reliability of the surgery. With the use of this system, including the calibration of instruments, registration, and the calibration of HMD, the 3D virtual critical anatomical structures in the head-mounted display are aligned with the actual structures of patient in real-world scenario during the intra-operative motion tracking process. The accuracy verification experiment demonstrated that the mean distance and angular errors were respectively 0.809±0.05mm and 1.038°±0.05°, which was sufficient to meet the clinical requirements.