3D image-guided surgery on the example of the 5,300-year-old Innsbruck Iceman

Interventional Video Tomography (IVT) is regularly used for computer-assisted 3D navigation in ear-, nose, throat, and head & neck surgery in our clinic. We present the technology and its application to collect biopsies of a 5,300 year old, completely conserved male cadaver, the Iceman. IVT links intraoperative live video with medical imaging data sets, realizing real-time surgical guidance in the live video and/or in the medical images. The IVT data contain the video images and the spatial sensor information; this has a large potential for documentation, training, teaching, and telepresence. IVT allowed us to sample the Iceman's mucosa by the minimally invasive endoscopic approach of the maxillary sinus, the nasal cavity, and the larynx, minimizing tissue damage. Visual inspection of the sinuses and the mucosa revealed the typical mucosa of a fresh cadaver, albeit originating from the stone-age.