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Surface-based registration accuracy of CT-based image-guided spine surgery

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Abstract

Registration is a critical and important process in maintaining the accuracy of CT-based image-guided surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the area of intraoperative data sampling and number of sampling points on the accuracy of surface-based registration in a CT-based spinal-navigation system, using an optical three-dimensional localizer. A cadaveric dry-bone phantom of the lumbar spine was used. To evaluate registration accuracy, three alumina ceramic balls were attached to the anterior and lateral aspects of the vertebral body. CT images of the phantom were obtained (1-mm slice thickness, at1-mm intervals) using a helical CT scanner. Twenty surface points were digitized from five zones defined on the basis of anatomical classification on the posterior aspects of the target vertebra. A total of 20 sets of sampling data were obtained. Evaluation of registration accuracy accounted for positional and rotational errors. Of the five zones, the area that was the largest and easiest to expose surgically and to digitize surface points was the lamina. The lamina was defined as standard zone. On this zone, the effect of the number of sampling points on the positional and rotational accuracy of registration was evaluated. And the effects of the additional area selected for intraoperative data sampling on the registration accuracy were evaluated. Using 20 surface points on the posterior side of the lamina, positional error was 0.96 mm±0.24 mm root-mean-square (RMS) and rotational error was 0.91°±0.38°RMS. The use of 20 surface points on the lamina usually allows surgeons to carry out sufficiently accurate registration to conduct computer-aided spine surgery. In the case of severe spondylosis, however, it might be difficult to digitize the surface points from the lamina, due to a hypertrophic facet joint or the deformity of the lamina and noisy sampling data. In such cases, registration accuracy can be improved by combining use of the 20 surface points on the lamina with surface points on other zones, such as on the both sides of the spinous process.

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Acknowledgement

This study was supported under the project entitled “Development of a Surgical Robot,” sponsored by the Research for the Future Program of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka Minami Medical Center, 2-1 Kidohigashi Kawachinagano, 586-8521, Osaka , Japan

    Yuichi Tamura & Kazuo Yonenobu

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

    Nobuhiko Sugano & Hideki Yoshikawa

  3. Division of Interdisciplinary Image Analysis, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

    Toshihiko Sasama, Yoshinobu Sato & Shinichi Tamura

  4. Division of Robotic therapy, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

    Takahiro Ochi

Authors
  1. Yuichi Tamura
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  2. Nobuhiko Sugano
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  3. Toshihiko Sasama
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  4. Yoshinobu Sato
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  5. Shinichi Tamura
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  6. Kazuo Yonenobu
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  7. Hideki Yoshikawa
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  8. Takahiro Ochi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuichi Tamura.

Additional information

Part of this study was presented at the CAOS USA 2000 meeting in Pittsburgh

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Tamura, Y., Sugano, N., Sasama, T. et al. Surface-based registration accuracy of CT-based image-guided spine surgery. Eur Spine J 14, 291–297 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-004-0797-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-004-0797-y

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