Interpedicular Screw Placement Image Guided Navigation Surgery Simulator

Image guided surgery it's one of the most useful tools to perform precise procedures that otherwise would be impossible, and therefore the need of a risk free training method is one of the most imperative needs in the field of medicine, this project has the goal to develop a prototype for a spine interpedicular screw placement surgery training simulator, achieving both the effective practice to deliver the dexterity needed, along with the safety of avoiding ionizing radiation risks. Two high definition webcams were used to digitize passive markers on the surgical tools in a MATLAB processing algorithm to recreate 3 bidimensional perspectives reading their spatial position and orientation, on each one insertion depth and angle is calculated. Then through MATLAB's user interface generator the information is displayed to the user, both in graphical and numerical form. Laboratory proof of concept test sets were run in order to prove the precision, accuracy and reliability. The system was tested, both section by section and as whole prototype, in both cases the results were satisfactory. Section by section achieving the specific purpose, and as a whole prototype being able to successfully identify the used tool, it's spatial position, depth and angle of the insertion, and showing the information on the users interface by graphic and numeric display. The interpedicular screw placement training system developed, successfully digitized the tool's position and orientation relative to the vertebra, displaying a 3 perspective bidimensional graphic representation of both, along with the insertion depth and angle, and identifying the tool's name. In the aftermath the trajectory of the tool's point is tracked on every perspective, along with a tridimensional recreation of such. Since only laboratory proofs were done, the prototype is yet to be validated as an effective training system, however the proof of concept test shows the efficiency and accuracy to be acceptable.