Intraoperative, real-time 3-D digitizer for neurosurgical treatment and planning

Summary form only given. An easy-to-use interface has been developed that allows real-time image localization and 3-D volume data set reformatting for use with computed-tomography (CT) and magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) images. As the basis for an intraoperative armless and frameless means of head stereotaxis, the surgeon uses a 3-D digitizer and an ultrasonic neurowand intraoperatively to register fiducials located on a patient´s head with image voxels stored in a workstation. Once this registration step is performed, the tip of the wand can be located in both the image and patient coordinate systems. In near real-time, coronal, sagittal, and axial sections (triplanar display) of the patient´s anatomy located by the wand are displayed on a graphics workstation. The neurowand has been used to chart and record the positions of scalp and intradural electroencephalography electrodes in 3-D MRI volume data sets. Three-dimensional rendering of these data reveals the precise location of the electrodes with respect to the gyral and sulcal anatomy of the brain