APPLICATION OF A NEW WEARABLE VIDEO SEE- THROUGH AUGMENTED REALITY SYSTEM BASED ON HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAYS TO AID PERCUTANEOUS PROCEDURE IN SPINE SURGERY

Introduction: Mini-invasive surgery requires the surgeon to perform procedures under medical image intensifier radiology without a direct visualization of the patient’s anatomy. This has inspired the devel- opment of several research lines, of which the Augmented Reality (AR) systems are the most promising. The aim of the study was to 1 3 or risk the use X-Ray image guidance. see-through system based on Head integrates video frames acquired by evaluate the efficacy of a new position of a working cannula transpedicular approach without Methods: We describe a video Mounted Displays (HMDs) that two cameras creating patient specific 3D models obtained from pre- operative radiological volumetric images. Our system has been tested on an experimental setup that simulates access to a lumbar pedicle, similar to a vertebroplasty procedure. Experienced and young sur- geons were asked to perform the percutaneous task wearing the HMDs with the AR guide running. The system accuracy was evaluated by a post-operative CT scan. Results: The preoperative and post-operative CT scans were com- pared and the trajectories obtained were compared to the theoretical trajectories. The maximum distance between the planned and ob- tained trajectories in the pedicle was considered to assess the quality of the guide system. The results obtained show a medium error of 1.48 ± 0.81 mm. Conclusions: The results of the in vitro tests were encouraging in terms of system usability and ergonomics rendering our system worthy of more extensive tests.