Intra-operative real-time 3-D information display system based on integral videography

Abstract

A real-time 3-D surgical navigation system that superimposes the real, intuitive 3-D image for medical diagnosis and operation was developed in this paper. This system creates 3-D image based on the principle of integral photography (IP), named “Integral Videography (IV)”, which can display geometrically accurate 3-D image and reproduce motion parallax without any need of special devices. 3-D image was superimposed on the surgical fields in the patient via a half-silvered mirror as if they could be seen through the body. In addition, a real-time IV algorithm for calculating the 3-D image of surgical instruments was used for registration between the location of surgical instruments and the organ during the operation. The experimental results of puncturing a point location and avoiding critical area showed the errors of this navigation system were in the range of 2~3mm. By introducing a display device with higher pixel density, accuracy of the system can be improved.