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Towards accurate, robust and practical ultrasound-CT registration of vertebrae for image-guided spine surgery

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International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Accurate registration of patient anatomy and preoperative computed tomography (CT) images is key to successful image-guided spine surgery. Current manual landmark and surface-based techniques are time-consuming and not always accurate. Intraoperative ultrasound imaging of the vertebrae, combined with automated registration, could improve surgery by improving accuracy, reducing operative time, and decreasing invasiveness.

Methods

We present a simple ultrasound-CT registration technique that is automated, accurate, and robust. Registration is achieved by aligning the posterior vertebral surface, extracted from both CT and ultrasound images, using a forward and a backward scan line tracing method, respectively. The registration technique is validated using a simple plastic phantom in a water bath and a more realistic porcine cadaver in a simulation of open back surgery.

Results

Clinically relevant accuracy was estimated by comparing automated registrations with gold standard imaging fiducial-based reference transformations, which yielded target registration errors of under 1 mm for the plastic phantom and under 1.6 mm for the porcine cadaver.

Conclusions

Our registration technique demonstrates good accuracy and robustness under clinically realistic conditions and thus warrants further studies on its surgical application.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, 3801 Rue University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada

    Charles X. B. Yan, Julie Pelletier, Sean Jy-Shyang Chen & D. Louis Collins

  2. Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Benoît Goulet

  3. Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Montreal Neurological Hospital, 3801 Rue University, Montreal, QC, H3A2B4, Canada

    Donatella Tampieri

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  1. Charles X. B. Yan
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  2. Benoît Goulet
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  4. Sean Jy-Shyang Chen
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Correspondence to Charles X. B. Yan.

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Yan, C.X.B., Goulet, B., Pelletier, J. et al. Towards accurate, robust and practical ultrasound-CT registration of vertebrae for image-guided spine surgery. Int J CARS 6, 523–537 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-010-0536-2

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