The role of augmented reality in training the planning of brain tumor resection

Abstract

The environment in which a surgeons is trained profoundly effects their preferred method for visualizing patient images. While classical 2D viewing might be preferred by some older experts, the new generation of residents and novices has been raised navigating in 3D through video games, and are accustomed to seeing 3D reconstructions of the human anatomy. In this study, we evaluate the performance of different groups of users in 4 different visualization modalities (2D planes, orthogonal planes, 3D reconstruction and augmented reality). We hypothesize that this system will facilitate the spatio-visual abilities of individuals in terms of assessing patient-specific data, an essential requirement of many neurosurgical applications such as tumour resection. We also hypothesize that the difference between AR and the other modalities will be greater in the novice group. Our preliminary results indicate that AR is better or as good as other modalities in terms of performance. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.