Surgical AR Navigation with Real-Time Accuracy Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical navigation systems face challenges in aligning preoperative images with intraoperative reality, requiring cumbersome setups and restricting surgeon mobility, with inaccuracies posing significant risks, especially in neurosurgery.
Innovation Solution
A medical AR system with a visualization unit generating preoperative and real-time 3D images, a control unit registering digitized reference points, and a navigation system to verify accuracy, allowing for seamless integration and real-time adjustment of AR overlays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If external tracking systems are used to align preoperative images with intraoperative reality, then navigation accuracy is improved, but device complexity and ease of operation deteriorate due to cumbersome setup processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the tracking functionality from external separate systems and integrates it directly into the visualization unit. The visualization unit now contains integrated markers and tracking components, eliminating the need for separate external tracking systems and their associated cumbersome setup procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the visualization unit with navigation and tracking functions into a single integrated system. The visualization unit combines imaging, marker display, and position tracking capabilities, allowing seamless alignment of preoperative images with intraoperative reality without requiring multiple separate devices.
2Measurement precision
If external tracking systems are used for surgical navigation, then navigation accuracy is improved, but surgeon mobility is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical external tracking systems with an optical/image-based tracking approach. The visualization unit uses image processing and marker recognition to determine position and orientation, eliminating the need for physical mechanical tracking infrastructure that restricts surgeon movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The visualization unit is designed as a multi-functional device that performs both visualization and navigation tracking functions. This universal device can be freely positioned and moved without being constrained by external tracking system requirements, providing both high navigation accuracy and surgeon mobility.
3Manufacturing precision
If AR overlay is used to integrate imaging information, then surgical precision is improved, but navigation accuracy verification becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the system automatically verifies navigation accuracy by comparing the position of markers in preoperative images with their detected positions in real-time images. This closed-loop verification process provides continuous feedback on navigation accuracy, making it easy to detect and measure while maintaining high surgical precision through AR overlay.
Data Source
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AI summary
The disclosure relates to a medical AR system (1) for a surgical procedure on a patient (10), comprising a visualization unit (2) for generating a preoperative image and a real-time image with a reference point (18), a navigation system (8) for detecting the visualization unit (2), and a control unit (16) for generating an AR overlay from a digitized reference point (20) of the preoperative image and the real-time image and for displaying a comparison of the AR overlay. The disclosure also relates to a method for verifying the navigation accuracy of the medical AR system (1) as well as a computer-readable storage medium and/or a computer program.