Precision-guided surgical navigation system using laser guidance and 3D autostereoscopic image overlay

This paper describes a precision-guided surgical navigation system for minimally invasive surgery. The system combines a laser guidance technique with a three-dimensional (3D) autostereoscopic image overlay technique. Images of surgical anatomic structures superimposed onto the patient are created by employing an animated imaging method called integral videography (IV), which can display geometrically accurate 3D autostereoscopic images and reproduce motion parallax without the need for special viewing or tracking devices. To improve the placement accuracy of surgical instruments, we integrated an image overlay system with a laser guidance system for alignment of the surgical instrument and better visualization of patient's internal structure. We fabricated a laser guidance device and mounted it on an IV image overlay device. Experimental evaluations showed that the system could guide a linear surgical instrument toward a target with an average error of 2.48 mm and standard deviation of 1.76 mm. Further improvement to the design of the laser guidance device and the patient-image registration procedure of the IV image overlay will make this system practical; its use would increase surgical accuracy and reduce invasiveness. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.