Towards a new image guidance system for assisting transapical minimally invasive aortic valve implantation

We propose a new image guidance system for assisting transapical minimally invasive aortic valve implantation. The goal is to define the exact positioning of aortic valve prosthesis, preventing the misplacement of the valve. The proposed system consists of two stand-alone modules. First, preoperative planning software uses DynaCT images with manual anatomical landmarks to calculate the size and optimal position of the prosthesis. Second, an intraoperative system is developed for tracking of the prosthesis and the coronary ostia in 2-D fluoroscopic images. Then the safe area of implantation is defined. The preliminary experimental results of preoperative planning and intraoperative tracking system are promising.