Objective: To explore the feasibility to measure the anatomy landmarks in the anatomy research, even in the operation by the MicronTracker binocular visual navigation system, and to study the anatomy of the transnasal endoscopic surgery of skull base.
Method: We designed a new anatomy data collection system based on the MicronTracker binocular visual navigation system to measure and record the anatomy landmarks, and measured the angles and distances between the related planes and the important structures on 67 dry adult cranium specimens (32 male, 35 female).
Result: 1) The system is reliable, the angles and the distances can be acquired in the real time. 2) The major date of the landmarks was the pitch of the Frankfurt horizontal plane according to the frontal bone plane, male: (77.7 +/- 4.7) degrees, female: (81.6 +/-4.5) degrees; the pitch of the bony nasal floor according to the frontal bone plane, male: (78.6 +/- 5.8) degrees, female: (82.0 +/- 4.5) degrees; from the same side of nasal spine to the anterior edge of foramen lacerum, pitch, male: (61.3 +/- 7.6) degrees, female: (65.6 +/-7.1) degrees, azimuth, male: (7.0 +/- 2.6) degrees, female: (7.1 +/- l.8) degrees, the distance, male: (68.9 +/- 4.1) mm, female: (66.3 +/- 3.9) mm; from the same side of the nasal spine to the aperture of the sphenoidal sinus, pitch, male: (40.5 +/- 9.3) degrees, female: (46.4 +/- 6. 8) degrees, azimuth, male: (2.1 +/- 1.8) degrees, female: (3.6 +/- 2. 6) degrees, the distance, male: (56.2 +/- 3.1) mm, female: (53.4 +/- 3.0) mm.
Conclusion: 1) The anatomy data collection system based on the MicronTracker binocular visual navigation system can be used to measure the anatomy landmarks conveniently, accurately and quickly. 2) The relationship between the landmarks of the skull base and the nasal cavity and the frontal bone plane and the sagittal plane is stable, and the planes can be used as the datum plane to look for the landmarks in the transnasal endoscopic surgery of skull base.