Ultrasound-guided navigation system for orthognathic surgery

Abstract

Around 1–2 % of the US population has craniofacial deformities severe enough to be disabling and stigmatizing, and could benefit from orthognathic surgery. This surgery involves repositioning the jaws, due to the unique features of each patient’s teeth, jaws, and joint. Approximately 20 % of patients who had mandibular advancement surgery experience moderate relapse 1–5 years after surgery. We believe ultrasound is a promising imaging technology for orthognathic surgery guidance that can assist surgeons to visualize the condyle/ramus segment in order to guide it into its pre-surgical, biologically stable position. This paper explores the role of 3D ultrasound imaging as a real-time surgical guidance to improve treatment outcomes for orthognathic surgery. This paper shows our work designing a 3D ultrasound volume reconstruction system and our results demonstrating its ability to capture the bony structures of the mandible, compared with those structures reconstructed from pre-surgical Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT).