A Novel System for Markerless Intra-Operative Bone and Bone Fragment Tracking

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Medical Imaging
• Computer-Aided Surgery

Background:

• Fluoroscopic guidance is crucial in orthopedic surgery for tracking bones.
• Interpreting 3D bone position from 2D fluoroscopy can be challenging for surgeons.
• Existing object-tracking technologies lack generalizability or disrupt surgical workflow.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel, general-purpose system for markerless, intra-operative bone tracking.
• To improve the accuracy and efficiency of 3D bone position and orientation assessment during surgery.
• To seamlessly integrate advanced tracking into the existing surgical setting.

Main Methods:

• A novel system for markerless, intra-operative bone tracking was developed.
• A unique calibration object was used to align multiple fluoroscopic images.
• The system enables 3D object registration from two semi-orthogonal 2D fluoroscopic images.

Main Results:

• The system provides robust and expedient 3D object registration.
• It allows for accurate tracking of bone position and orientation.
• The approach is general-purpose and integrates seamlessly into surgical procedures.

Conclusions:

• The developed system offers a significant advancement in intra-operative bone tracking.
• It overcomes limitations of current 2D fluoroscopic guidance and existing tracking technologies.
• This novel approach enhances surgical precision and efficiency in orthopedic procedures.