Augmenting camera images with gamma detector data

Peter A Von Niederhäusern,Guillaume Nicolas,Stephan K Haerle,Uri Nahum,Simon Pezold,Philippe C Cattin,Michael Rissi,Carlo Seppi

doi:10.1186/s40658-019-0245-z

Peter A Von Niederhäusern, Guillaume Nicolas + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40658-019-0245-z

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Abstract

BackgroundSquamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck region is one of the most widespread cancers with high morbidity. Classic treatment comprises the complete removal of the lymphatics together with the cancerous tissue. Recent studies have shown that such interventions are only required in 30% of the patients. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is an alternative method to stage the malignancy in a less invasive manner and to avoid overtreatment. In this paper, we present a novel approach that enables a future augmented reality device which improves the biopsy procedure by visual means.MethodsWe propose a co-calibration scheme for axis-aligned miniature cameras with pinholes of a gamma ray collimating and sensing device and show results gained by experiments, based on a calibration target visible for both modalities.ResultsVisual inspection and quantitative evaluation of the augmentation of optical camera images with gamma information are congruent with known gamma source landmarks.ConclusionsCombining a multi-pinhole collimator with axis-aligned miniature cameras to augment optical images using gamma detector data is promising. As such, our approach might be applicable for breast cancer and melanoma staging as well, which are also based on sentinel lymph node biopsy.

Highlights

Squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck region is one of the most widespread cancers with high morbidity
Axis alignment In the “Foundation” section, we propose three possible options to control the augmentation error, and we conclude that axis alignment is the most viable one: moving the camera/pinhole pair away too far from the target decreases the probability of gamma photons, governed by the inverse square law, to reach the collimator and to trigger a signal on the detector
The vial is variably positioned at three corresponding exit pupils of the calibration target

Summary

Introduction

Squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck region is one of the most widespread cancers with high morbidity. Classic treatment comprises the complete removal of the lymphatics together with the cancerous tissue. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is an alternative method to stage the malignancy in a less invasive manner and to avoid overtreatment. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers. Studies have shown that 70% of all HNSCC patients undergo overtreatment due to the limited accuracy of classic clinical and radiologic staging [1]. Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) is the standard minimally invasive staging procedure for melanoma and breast cancer surgery and is currently validated in the domain of HNSCC treatment [2, 3]. As SNB enables the most accurate histologic examination, it could transform HNSCC surgery to be less invasive by improving the overall staging process [5]

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