Concepts for augmented reality visualisation to support needle guidance inside the MRI

André Mewes; Florian Heinrich; Bennet Hensen; Frank Wacker; Kai Lawonn; Christian Hansen

doi:10.1049/htl.2018.5076

Concepts for augmented reality visualisation to support needle guidance inside the MRI

Healthc Technol Lett. 2018 Sep 18;5(5):172-176. doi: 10.1049/htl.2018.5076. eCollection 2018 Oct.

Authors

André Mewes^{1

2}, Florian Heinrich^{1

2}, Bennet Hensen^{2

3}, Frank Wacker^{2

3}, Kai Lawonn⁴, Christian Hansen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Computer Science, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany.
² Research Campus STIMULATE, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany.
³ Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Hanover Medical School, Germany.
⁴ Faculty of Computer Science, University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany.

Abstract

During MRI-guided interventions, navigation support is often separated from the operating field on displays, which impedes the interpretation of positions and orientations of instruments inside the patient's body as well as hand-eye coordination. To overcome these issues projector-based augmented reality can be used to support needle guidance inside the MRI bore directly in the operating field. The authors present two visualisation concepts for needle navigation aids which were compared in an accuracy and usability study with eight participants, four of whom were experienced radiologists. The results show that both concepts are equally accurate ( $2.0 \pm 0.6$ and $1.7 \pm 0.5 mm$ ), useful and easy to use, with clear visual feedback about the state and success of the needle puncture. For easier clinical applicability, a dynamic projection on moving surfaces and organ movement tracking are needed. For now, tests with patients with respiratory arrest are feasible.

Keywords: MRI-guided interventions; augmented reality; augmented reality visualisation; biomedical MRI; data visualisation; displays; hand–eye coordination; medical image processing; needle guidance; needle navigation aids; needle puncture; needles; operating field; patient; positions; projector-based augmented reality; visual feedback.