Guidewire tracking during endovascular neurosurgery

This paper presents a new method for guidewire tracking on fluoroscopic images from endovascular brain intervention. The combination of algorithms chosen can be implemented in real time, so that it can be used in an augmented reality 3D representation to assist physicians performing these interventions. A ribbon-like morphing process combined with a minimal path optimization algorithm is used to track lateral motion between successive frames. Forward motions are then tracked with an endpoint tracking algorithm, based on a circular window processed with the Radon transform. The proposed method was tested on 6 fluoroscopic sequences presenting high-speed motions, which were saved during endovascular brain interventions. The experiments showed above-average precision and robust guidewire tracking, without any permanent error requiring manual correction.