title: Intravascular catheter navigation using path planning and virtual visual feedback for oral cancer treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is tedious and difficult to position a flexible catheter in a target vessel branch within complicated-shaped vessels owing to the lack of real-time visual feedback. Digital subtraction angiography and fluoroscopic guidance are currently used for catheter placement.
  
  
  METHODS
  The proposed method employs an electromagnetic (EM) tracking system to track a sensor-attached catheter. Vessel centerlines are extracted from the CT angiography image, based on which a navigational information tree is built to facilitate catheter manipulation. A virtual endoscopy technique is adopted to generate virtual intravascular video as visual feedback. Unscented Kalman filtering based image registration is performed to align the EM tracker frame with the anatomical atlas and to envision the target registration error.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Preliminary experimental results showed the feasibility and effectiveness of the new method, with navigation accuracy of 1.80 ± 0.85 mm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The proposed method can provide continuous virtual visual feedback to facilitate catheter placement and has the potential for clinical use, with significant reduction in X-ray radiation exposure and doses of contrast agents.
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, Xueyuan Road 37, Beijing, China. wangjunchen@gmail.com
authors.forename: Junchen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohya
authors.forename: Hongen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sakuma
authors.forename: Tianmiao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Iwai
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tohnai
authors.forename: Toshinori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwai
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D002138:Calibration; D002404:Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation*; D057785:Catheters; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D005471:Fluoroscopy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery* / Q000628:therapy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media