INPRES (intraoperative presentation of surgical planning and simulation results): augmented reality for craniofacial surgery
Tobias Salb, Jakob Brief, Thomas Welzel, Bjoern Giesler, Steffan Hassfeld, Joachim Muehling, Ruediger Dillmann · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2003
In this paper we present recent developments and pre-clinical validation results of our approach for augmented reality (AR, for short) in craniofacial surgery. A commercial Sony Glasstron display is used for optical see-through overlay of surgical planning and simulation results with a patient inside the operation room (OR). For the tracking of the glasses, of the patient and of various medical instruments an NDI Polaris system is used as standard solution. A complementary inside-out navigation approach has been realized with a panoramic camera. This device is mounted on the head of the surgeon for tracking of fiducials placed on the walls of the OR. Further tasks described include the calibration of the head-mounted display (HMD), the registration of virtual objects with the real world and the detection of occlusions in the object overlay with help of two miniature CCD cameras. The evaluation of our work took place in the laboratory environment and showed promising results. Future work will concentrate on the optimization of the technical features of the prototype and on the development of a system for everyday clinical use.