Development of a Hybrid Stereotactic Guidance System For Percutaneous Liver Tumour Ablation
Abstract
Stereotactic Image-Guided Surgical Navigation System (IGSNS) supports percutaneous procedures by using medical imaging and tracking information, to assist the surgeons in the preprocedural planning and intraprocedural steps. This thesis describes the development of a stereotactic IGSNS for percutaneous liver tumour ablation, the goal of which is to assist in positioning the tip of the ablation applicator accurately to ensure complete tumour coverage. The main system improvement is the employment of a mini stereotactic patient-attach aiming device that is used as a pointer to ensure needle tip position prior to needle insertion. The thesis chapters describe the development and validation of the components of the stereotactic IGSNS. An anthropomorphic phantom development for validation and training is also presented. We hypothesize that the combination of spatial tracking, real-time ultrasound, mechanical stabilization provided by the mini-stereotactic device and image-to-image registration will improve the targeting accuracy for the focal treatment and reduce the needle repositioning.