[Maxillo-facial surgery in the future, interdisciplinary innovation for medicine]

The computer assisted craniomaxillofacial surgery (CAS-CMFS) is an emergent scientific domain in interaction between maxillofacial surgery, three dimensional CT imaging and remote signal engineering. The different stages to develop a synergy between these scientific areas are presented on example of the HEROL project (2002-2006, Region Wallonne grant). The 3D cephalometric analysis is made first with an original ACRO 3D software. Then, the craniomaxillofacial surgery preoperative planning, using 3D informations from ACRO 3D, is performed with ACROSIM 3D software. The major information concerning craniomaxillofacial surgery (incisions, nerve visualization, osteotomy lines visualization, ostheosynthesis position visualization) are transmitted from the virtual word (ACRO 3D & ACROSIM 3D), through the augmented reality (AR) head-mounted display, to the operating theatre. This study describes the HEROL project real advancement and future potential applications of AR in surgery.