Computation and visualization of uncertainty in surgical navigation
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Published on: September 2, 2025
Amber L Simpson1, Burton Ma, Edward M Vasarhelyi
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
Background:
Surgical displays do not show uncertainty information with respect to the position and orientation of instruments. Data is presented as though it were perfect; surgeons unaware of this uncertainty could make critical navigational mistakes.
Methods:
The propagation of uncertainty to the tip of a surgical instrument is described and a novel uncertainty visualization method is proposed. An extensive study with surgeons has examined the effect of uncertainty visualization on surgical performance with pedicle screw insertion, a procedure highly sensitive to uncertain data.
Results:
It is shown that surgical performance (time to insert screw, degree of breach of pedicle, and rotation error) is not impeded by the additional cognitive burden imposed by uncertainty visualization.
Conclusions:
Uncertainty can be computed in real time and visualized without adversely affecting surgical performance, and the best method of uncertainty visualization may depend upon the type of navigation display.
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00:59Uncertainty: Overview
00:59Propagation of Uncertainty from Random Error