2D ultrasound augmented by virtual tools for guidance of interventional procedures.
Many intracardiac procedures can currently be performed on the heart only after it has been arrested, and the patient has been placed on cardio-pulmonary bypass. We have developed a new method for operating on multiple targets inside the beating heart, and describe a procedure for accessing them under virtual-reality (VR)-assisted image guidance that combines real-time ultrasound with a virtual model of tools, and the surgical environment acquired from pre-operative images. This paper presents preliminary results aimed at assessing the operator's ability to accurately position and staple an artificial valve to a "valve orifice" within a cardiac phantom when guidance is performed via ultrasound alone, and with US augmented by the VR environment.
Moore
John
J
Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada. jmoore@imaging.robarts.ca
Guiraudon
Gerard
G
Jones
Doug
D
Hill
Nick
N
Wiles
Andrew
A
Bainbridge
Dan
D
Wedlake
Chris
C
Peters
Terry
T
D004452:Echocardiography; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D009864:Ontario; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted; D013903:Thoracic Surgery