Augmented Reality-Assisted CT-Guided Puncture: A Phantom Study.

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging and Interventional Radiology
• Computer-Assisted Surgery
• Augmented Reality in Medicine

Background:

• CT-guided liver interventions are crucial for diagnosis and treatment.
• Minimizing procedure time and maximizing accuracy are key goals in interventional radiology.
• Existing free-hand techniques may be limited by factors such as operator experience and visualization challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of a new augmented reality (AR) system for CT-guided liver interventions.
• To compare the performance of the AR system against traditional free-hand techniques in a phantom model.
• To assess the impact of AR on procedural time and needle placement accuracy.

Main Methods:

• A novel AR interface was developed, projecting multiplanar reconstructed CT images and live needle tracking.
• The system provided real-time visualization of needle trajectory and distance to target.
• Three interventional radiologists of varying expertise performed punctures on an abdominal phantom using both AR and free-hand methods.
• Procedural time and needle placement accuracy were recorded and analyzed.

Main Results:

• All operators demonstrated significantly shorter puncture times when using the AR system compared to free-hand.
• The junior staff member showed a statistically significant improvement in needle placement accuracy of 1 mm with AR.
• No significant accuracy improvement was observed for the resident and senior staff members with the AR system.
• The AR system maintained accuracy comparable to free-hand methods for most participants.

Conclusions:

• The novel AR system shows promise in improving the speed of CT-guided punctures in a phantom setting.
• While accuracy was maintained, significant improvements were primarily observed in procedural efficiency.
• Further research with larger sample sizes and in clinical settings is warranted to confirm these findings.