Exploiting 2-D to 3-D Intra-operative Image Registration for Qualitative Evaluations and Post-operative Simulations

Abstract

This paper addresses a key issue of providing clinicians with visual information to validate the accuracy of 2D/3D registration for robot-assisted total hip replacement (THR) surgery. In practice, clinicians rely on post-operative X-rays to assess the accuracy of implant placement. Motivated by this, we simulate a set of post-operative X-ray images by superimposing the implant positioned pre-operatively onto the intra-operatively collected and calibrated images of the femur, through a transformation computed by the 2D/3D registration. With these images, a judgment on the registration accuracy can be made. In addition, this paper introduces methods for superimposing pre-operative data on intra-operative X-ray images that were not corrected for distortion, by applying the same image distortion to the data. This paper also introduces a new framework for incorporating surface normals in the objective function for registration. A comparison between marker-based and image-based registration is conducted.