Virtual Camera Selective Rendering for Obstructed Surgical Views
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image-guided surgery (IGS) systems face limitations in providing effective visual context during procedures, particularly when the virtual camera position is obstructed by anatomical structures or instruments, leading to unhelpful or misleading views.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a virtual camera system with selective rendering capabilities, allowing for the omission of irrelevant anatomical structures and enabling dynamic filtering based on procedure type, instrument position, and critical anatomy proximity, to provide clear and relevant visual context during surgeries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a virtual camera system is used to provide visual context during surgery, then the surgeon can navigate anatomy in three dimensions, but the view may be obstructed by anatomical structures or instruments leading to unhelpful or misleading views
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes obstructing anatomical structures and instruments from the virtual camera view. The system identifies objects that block the line of sight between the virtual camera and the region of interest, then selectively excludes these objects from the rendered image, allowing the surgeon to see through obstructions and maintain accurate spatial orientation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a virtual reality environment as an intermediary layer between the actual surgical field and the surgeon's perception. This virtual environment overlays or replaces the real surgical view with a computationally generated perspective that can see through obstructions, providing enhanced spatial context without interfering with the actual surgical procedure.
2Loss of information
If all anatomical structures are displayed in the virtual camera view, then complete anatomical context is provided, but visual clutter increases making it difficult to identify critical structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different visual properties to different regions of the anatomical model. Critical anatomical structures near the instrument tip or in the region of interest are rendered with enhanced visibility, while distant or less relevant structures are rendered with reduced detail or opacity. This creates a depth-based or importance-based visual hierarchy that reduces clutter while preserving essential information.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the anatomical structures into multiple categories or layers (e.g., critical structures, intermediate structures, background structures). Each segment can be independently controlled in terms of visibility, opacity, or level of detail, allowing the surgeon to focus on relevant anatomy while minimizing visual distraction from less important structures.
Data Source
AI summary
A virtual camera may be positioned relative to a 3-D model of a patient anatomy in order to provide a virtual camera view of the surrounding anatomy and tracked surgical instruments being deployed to the anatomy. Visual context provided by the virtual camera may be limited in some cases, such as where a surgical instrument is being used within a very narrow anatomical passageway or cavity. To provide more placement flexibility, an IGS system providing a virtual camera receives inputs defining variable visual characteristics for different segments or regions of the 3-D model, which may include hiding certain segments or making certain segments semi-transparent. With such a system, the view of the 3-D model provided by the virtual camera view may be modified to remove or deemphasize less relevant segments, to display or emphasize more relevant segments (e.g., critical patient anatomy), or both.