Reliability of Residual Tumor Estimation Based on Navigation Log

Area of Science:

• Neurosurgery
• Medical Imaging
• Surgical Navigation

Background:

• Residual tumor estimation is crucial for effective cancer resection.
• Neurosurgical navigation systems (navigation logs) offer potential for real-time tumor evaluation.
• Previous studies lacked quantitative reliability analysis and overlooked factors like brain shift.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively assess the reliability of using navigation logs for residual tumor volume estimation.
• To evaluate the accuracy of detecting residual tumor mass using navigation log data.
• To determine if navigation log analysis can aid rapid intraoperative decision-making.

Main Methods:

• Analyzed 25 patients with high navigation log acquisition rates.
• Extracted surgical instrument trajectories from navigation logs to estimate resection regions.
• Calculated log-estimation residual tumor volume (RTV) and correlated it with post-resection MR imaging RTV.

Main Results:

• Log-estimation RTV showed a significant correlation with post-resection MR image RTV (correlation coefficient = 0.960, P <0.001).
• Detection of patient-wise residual tumor mass achieved 81.8% sensitivity and 92.9% specificity.
• Individual residual tumor mass detection yielded a 72% positive predictive value.

Conclusions:

• Navigation log-based residual tumor estimation with adequate log coverage is a reliable method.
• This technique can effectively support rapid surgical decision-making during tumor resection.
• The findings highlight the potential of navigation logs for improving surgical outcomes.