Development and Evaluation of Robot-Assisted Ultrasound Navigation System for Pedicle Screw Placement: An Ex-vivo Animal Validation

PURPOSE: Spinal instrumentation with pedicle screw placement (PSP) is an important surgical technique for spinal diseases. Accurate screw trajectory is a prerequisite for PSP. Ultrasound (US) imaging with robot-assisted system forms a non-radiative alternative to provide precise screw trajectory. This study reports on the development and assessment of US navigation for this application. METHODS: A robot-assisted US reconstruction was proposed and an automatic CT-to-US registration algorithm was investigated, allowing the registration of screw trajectories. Experiments were conducted on ex-vivo lamb spines to evaluate system performance. RESULTS: In total, 72 screw trajectories are measured, displaying an average position accuracy of 2.80 ± 1.14 mm and orientation accuracy of 1.38 ± 0.61°. CONCLUSION: The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of proposed US system. This work, although restricted to laboratory settings, encourages further exploration of the potential of this technology in clinical practice.

Jaar van publicatie:2024

Toegankelijkheid:Open