VISUAL GUIDANCE SYSTEM FOR SURGICAL PROCEDURE

A visual guidance system for use in a surgical procedure. The system includes an image processing unit programmed to receive a three-dimensional image of a surgical area, information on an instrument being used in the procedure, and a surgical plan including a planned trajectory that the instrument should follow. The image processing unit generates a derived representation of the surgical procedure depicting the movement of the instrument on the three-dimensional image. A graphical guidance indicator is disposed on the three-dimensional image with a center point of the graphical guidance indicator centered on the planned trajectory, the graphical guidance indicator being displayed orthogonal to the planned trajectory. The derived image and the graphical guidance indicator depict at least five degrees of freedom of motion of the instrument. The graphical guidance indicator is changed based on the movement of the instrument in accordance with the surgical plan.