Visualization for Planning and Simulation of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgical Procedures

A unit for training and simulation as well as for planning of minimally invasive operations of the brain is presented, called ROBO-SIM, for virtual patient positioning, planning of the surgical approach to a target in the depth, for anatomical orientation in the operating field and for manipulations of the virtual tissue. Methods are described for the visualization of the outer body surface (head), the virtual operating field in the depth of the brain, virtual surgical instruments and deformations (displacement, fragmentation) of the virtual tissue by simulated surgical manipulations. Mainly volume-rendered data from 3D-MRI are used. Surface views of the whole dataset are used for virtual patient positioning. For virtual endoscopic visualization of the small operating field within cavities of the brain (ventricles, cysts), a volume rendering application of “Volumizer” has been developed, called “Flight-Volumizer”. Elastodynamic tissue deformation is achieved by a viscoelastic model on the surface of the cavities, which is simulated by neuro-fuzzy systems.