Mixed reality neurosurgical microscope for training and intra-operative purposes

Abstract

In recent years, neurosurgery has been deeply influenced by new technologies. It requires fine techniques targeted to obtain treatments minimally invasive though often traumatic. The precision of the surgical gesture is related both to experience of the surgeon and accuracy of the available technological instruments. Computer Aided Surgery (CAS) can offer several benefits for the patient's safety. From a technological point of view we observe the use of the Virtual Reality (VR) for the surgeons training and Augmented Reality (AR) for the intra-operative aid for treatments. This paper presents a prototype for a mixed reality system for neurosurgical interventions embedded on a real surgical microscope for pre- and intra- operative purposes. Its main purposes are: the realistic simulation (visual and haptic) of the spatula palpation of low-grade glioma and also the stereoscopic visualization in AR of relevant 3D data for safe surgical movements in the image guided interventions. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.