Artikel
Clinical application perspectives of virtual-reality systems for neurosurgery
Klinische Anwendungsperspektiven von Virtual-Reality-Systemen für die Neurochirurgie
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Veröffentlicht: | 8. Mai 2019 |
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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.