Surgical instrument guidance using synthesized anatomical structures

We present a new method of intraoperative, image-based surgical instrument guidance. The method has the potential to significantly improve visualization of intraoperative procedures that currently depend on fluoroscopic images for navigation. 3D information from preoperative computed tomography (CT) is fused with images of the instrument taken intraoperatively. Our approach employs synthesized anatomical structures, a novel approach using the effect of parallax to synthesize the apparent position of anatomical structures viewed under projection. The result is a reconstruction of the instrument in the context of the CT image which greatly facilitates the understanding of instrument position and trajectory within the patient. In this paper, we show how the method can potentially be applied to surgical procedures such as percutaneous rhizotomy. Phantom studies showing our preliminary results are included.