Computer Generated Visual Assistance to a Surgical Operation: the Retroperitoneoscopy

Applications of Computer Vision in Medical Image Processing

Volume

Papers from the 1994 AAAI Spring Symposium

Contents

We present here experiments on a system of computer assisted surgery. A 3D position measuring device is used to obtain the position of the usual surgical tool partly inserted in the patient’s body. These 6D position coordinates are used to compute and display gray-level CT-like slices in plane cuts depending on the position of the tool. A simplified representation of the tool is superimposed to these images. This process is repeated to obtain a real time visualisation during the operation. This system allows the surgeon to know precisely the position of his tool in the patient’s body. We explain our goals, the nature of the surgical operation, the system architecture and operations. We give the results of an experiment carried out on a cadaver.