Three-dimensional image-guided navigation technique for femoral artery puncture

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Interventional Radiology
• Surgical Navigation

Background:

• Percutaneous femoral arterial access is crucial for minimally invasive vascular interventions.
• Inadequate visualization during this procedure can lead to inaccurate punctures and complications, occurring in 3-18% of cases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel three-dimensional (3D) image-guided navigation system for enhanced real-time visualization during femoral artery access.
• To improve the accuracy and safety of percutaneous femoral artery puncture.

Main Methods:

• The system utilizes an Iterative Closest Point (ICP)-based point cloud algorithm for spatial registration between image and patient spaces.
• An improved ICP method was implemented for optimized surface point cloud alignment, enhancing efficiency and accuracy.
• Validation was performed using a standard model and a human phantom, quantifying registration and navigation accuracy via fiducial registration error (FRE), target registration error (TRE), and distance error.

Main Results:

• The system achieved a fiducial registration error (FRE) of 0.944 mm.
• On a standard model, average distance error was 0.885 mm and TRE was 0.915 mm.
• On a human phantom, average distance error was 0.967 mm and average TRE was 0.981 mm, all within clinically acceptable limits.

Conclusions:

• The proposed 3D navigation system demonstrates feasibility and effectiveness in guiding femoral artery puncture.
• The system's accuracy metrics suggest a potential to significantly improve procedural safety and precision in percutaneous vascular interventions.