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Updated: Jun 26, 2026
Technical Approach for Infrared Tracking for Soft Tissue Navigation with a Holographic Head-Mounted Display and Preclinical Validation
Published on: September 2, 2025
Upgrade of an optical navigation system with a permanent electromagnetic position control: a first step towards
Siegfried Beller1, Sebastian Eulenstein, Thomas Lange
1Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Charitè Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Berlin, Germany. siegfried.beller@krankenhaus-gmbh.de
Introduction:
The main problems of navigation in liver surgery are organ movement and deformation. With a combination of direct optical and indirect electromagnetic tracking technology, visualisation and positional control of surgical instruments within three-dimensional ultrasound data and registration of organ movements can be realised simultaneously.
Methods:
Surgical instruments for liver resection were localised with an infrared-based navigation system (Polaris). Movements of the organ itself were registered using an electromagnetic navigation system (Aurora). The combination of these two navigation techniques and a new surgical navigation procedure focussed on a circumscribed critical dissection area were applied for the first time in liver resections.
Results:
This new technique was effectively implemented. The position of the surgical instrument was localised continuously. Repeated position control with observation of the navigation screen was not necessary. During surgical resection, a sonic warning signal was activated when the surgical instrument entered a "no touch" area--an area of reduced safety margin.
Conclusion:
Optical tracking of surgical instruments and simultaneous electromagnetic registration of organ position is feasible in liver resection.
