gms | German Medical Science

70. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC)
Joint Meeting mit der Skandinavischen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC) e. V.

12.05. - 15.05.2019, Würzburg

Clinical application perspectives of virtual-reality systems for neurosurgery

Klinische Anwendungsperspektiven von Virtual-Reality-Systemen für die Neurochirurgie

Meeting Abstract

  • presenting/speaker Oliver Schnell - Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Freiburg, Deutschland
  • Lukas Fiederer - Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Abt. Prächirurgische Epilesiediagnostik, Translational Neurotechnology Lab, Freiburg, Deutschland
  • Hisham Alwanni - Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Abt. Prächirurgische Epilesiediagnostik, Translational Neurotechnology Lab, Freiburg, Deutschland
  • Martin Völker - Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Abt. Prächirurgische Epilesiediagnostik, Translational Neurotechnology Lab, Freiburg, Deutschland
  • Jürgen Beck - Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Freiburg, Deutschland
  • Tonio Ball - Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Klinik für Neurochirurgie, Abt. Prächirurgische Epilesiediagnostik, Translational Neurotechnology Lab, Freiburg, Deutschland

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. 70. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC), Joint Meeting mit der Skandinavischen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. Würzburg, 12.-15.05.2019. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2019. DocV075

doi: 10.3205/19dgnc090, urn:nbn:de:0183-19dgnc0903

Veröffentlicht: 8. Mai 2019

© 2019 Schnell et al.
Dieser Artikel ist ein Open-Access-Artikel und steht unter den Lizenzbedingungen der Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (Namensnennung). Lizenz-Angaben siehe http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Gliederung

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Objective: Fully immersive virtual reality (VR) has the potential to improve neurosurgical planning. For example, it may offer 3D visualizations of relevant anatomical structures with complex shapes, such as blood vessels and tumors. Our objective here was to evaluate the clinical application potential of a novel VR framework for neurosurgical planning.

Methods: Our framework has been designed to be especially effective for segmenting the detailed anatomy of cranial structures including the blood vessels supplying the brain. Knowledge about the exact position of even small blood vessels is crucial for preventing postoperative deficits.

Results: Here we show how our VR framework can be successfully adapted for clinical imaging data analysis and extended by VR visualization, not only of healthy brain structures, but also of pathological alterations such as brain tumors. Based on the data of two pilot patients, we describe how we adapted, extended and integrated our segmentation pipeline in the presented VR framework to allow successful creation of VR models. These include the exact relation of blood vessels to tumor boundaries and cranial nerves, like the optic tract and brainstem nerves. As a first step toward practical evaluations, two certified senior neurosurgeons post-operatively positively assessed the usefulness of the VR visualizations using head-mounted displays.

Conclusion: The methods and findings described in our study provide a foundation for research and development aiming at versatile and user-friendly VR tools for improving neurosurgical planning and training.