Mixed Reality Surgical Navigation with Marker-Based Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-risk surgeries face challenges in precise positioning due to surgeons' inability to visually see the surgical area, relying on 2D images for navigation, which complicates procedures and increases mental stress.
Innovation Solution
A mixed reality system using tracking markers for a mobile MR device and an immobile optical tracker to accurately project 3D digital images of surgical areas, ensuring real-time alignment and dynamic visualization, regardless of the surgeon's movement, allowing multiple surgeons to view from different angles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If 2D slice images are used for surgical navigation, then surgeons can view surgical area images before operation, but surgeons cannot visually see the actual surgical area during operation, leading to high risk and difficulty
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms 2D slice images into a 3D virtual model of the surgical area, enabling surgeons to visualize the actual three-dimensional structure of tissues, blood vessels, and nerves. This dimensional transformation allows surgeons to see through tissues and understand spatial relationships that cannot be grasped from 2D images alone, directly addressing the loss of visual information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a mixed reality system as an intermediary between the surgical area and the surgeon's vision. This system captures real-time surgical data, processes it into a 3D virtual model, and overlays it onto the surgeon's field of view through augmented reality glasses, allowing simultaneous viewing of both the actual surgical area and the virtual anatomical structures.
2Loss of information
If mixed reality system projects 3D digital images onto surgical area, then surgeons can visually see surgical area in real-time, but accurate alignment and positioning of virtual images with actual surgical space becomes a critical technical issue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical tracking systems with an optical tracking system using markers and image recognition. The system captures images of the surgical area, identifies anatomical landmarks, and automatically calculates the transformation matrix between the virtual model coordinate system and the real surgical space coordinate system, achieving precise alignment without complex mechanical positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically adjusts the transformation parameters (translation and rotation values) between the virtual 3D model and the real surgical space based on real-time tracking of markers and anatomical landmarks. This allows the virtual images to remain accurately aligned with the actual surgical area even when the surgeon or patient moves, maintaining measurement precision throughout the procedure.
3Reliability
If surgical navigation system is used, then surgeons can plan surgical approach, but the system complexity and operation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple functions into a single mixed reality system: 3D model reconstruction, real-time tracking, image alignment, and augmented reality display are all combined in one system. The augmented reality glasses serve as both the display device and the tracking device, eliminating the need for separate complex equipment for each function and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically performs image processing, 3D reconstruction, and alignment calculations without requiring manual intervention from the surgeon. The algorithm automatically identifies anatomical landmarks, computes transformation matrices, and adjusts the virtual model in real-time, reducing the operational burden on the surgeon while maintaining high surgical precision.
4Loss of information
If 2D slice images are referenced during operation, then surgeons have pre-operative imaging data, but surgeons endure high mental stress due to inability to visualize actual surgical area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms flat 2D slice images into an immersive 3D virtual model that surgeons can view from any angle. This allows surgeons to mentally visualize the actual three-dimensional anatomy, understand spatial relationships between structures, and plan surgical approaches more easily, significantly reducing the mental stress associated with interpreting 2D images during complex procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a digital image reality aligning kit, applied to a mixed reality system integrated with a surgical navigation system including: a plurality of moveable markers corresponded to a plurality of moveable marker coordinates respectively and a part of the plurality of moveable markers configured on a surgical instrument; a positioning marker corresponded to a positioning marker coordinate and configured in proximity to a surgical area corresponded to a surgical area coordinate, when the positioning marker is settled, the relative position thereof with respect to the other part of the plurality of moveable markers and the surgical area are determined accordingly, so as to transform the surgical area coordinate to the positioning marker coordinate; and a mixed reality device corresponded to a mixed reality device coordinate and detecting the positioning marker to transform the positioning marker coordinate to the mixed reality device coordinate accordingly, so as to project a surgical area digital image corresponded to a surgical area digital image coordinate onto the surgical area.