Augmented reality in the surgery of cerebral arteriovenous malformations: technique assessment and considerations

Abstract

The difficulty in intraoperatively conveying useful information on feeder vessels may make augmented reality a less engaging tool in this form of surgery, and might explain its underrepresentation in the literature. Integrating an AVM's hemodynamic characteristics into the augmented rendering could make it more suited to AVM surgery.

Augmented reality in neurosurgery: a systematic review

“…These systems allow overlaying 3D projections derived from preoperative surgical images into bilateral eyepieces of the binocular optics of the operating microscope, precisely aligned with the surgical field. [22,11,4,3,5,38,16,34] To achieve a coherent fusion between real images and virtual content, these systems monitor microscope optics pose, focus, zoom, and all internal camera parameters. [13] This is an important advantage as other, simpler, systems require manual alignment with the surgical field.…”

“…[29] The microscope based AR system represented by MAGI (microscope-assisted guided interventions), requires an invasive preoperative placement of skull-fixed fiducials and/or locking acrylic dental stents. More recently, surface based registration approaches have been used[4] without any additional referencing device as traditional modern neuronavigation systems.…”

“…[17,22,11,29,23,14,32,4,3,15,8,5] We present a literature review aiming to: describe and evaluate the advantages and shortcomings of each of the different AR setups tested in vivo in humans; to understand the efficacy of AR in the treatment of neurosurgical diseases; and, to define potential future research directions.…”

Evaluation of the usability of image projecting augmented reality technique: An experimental study on fresh cadaveric cattle brain

“…Augmented reality can be described as live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics, or GPS data [1,2,4,5]. One's current perception of reality can be enhanced by the functions of this technology.…”

Augmented Reality in Surgery

“…During intracranial AVM surgery, AR was not as useful due to the complexity of AVMs; however, the authors felt that real-time information concerning hemodynamics would be more useful [ 24 ]. As investigators continue to push the envelope of this technology, its utility will become more defi ned.…”