An effective technique for calibrating the intrinsic parameters of a vascular C-arm from a planar target

摘要

The real time recovery of the projection geometry is a fundamental issue in interventional navigation applications (e.g. guide wire reconstruction, medical augmented reality). In most works, the intrinsic parameters are supposed to be constant and the extrinsic parameters (C-arm motion) are deduced either from the orientation sensors of the C-arm or from other additional sensors (eg. optical and/or electro-magnetic sensors). However, due to the weight of the X-ray tube and the C-arm, the system is undergoing deformations which induce variations of the intrinsic parameters as a function of the C-arm orientation. In our approach, we propose to measure the effects of the mechanical deformations onto the intrinsic parameters in a calibration procedure. Robust calibration methods exist (the gold standard is the multi-image calibration) but they are time consuming and too tedious to set up in a clinical context. For these reasons, we developed an original and easy to use method, based on a planar calibration target, which aims at measuring with a high level of accuracy the variation of the intrinsic parameters on a vascular C-arm. The precision of the planar-based method was evaluated by the mean of error propagation using techniques described in. It appeared that the precision of the intrinsic parameters are comparable to the one obtained from the multi-image calibration method. The planar-based method was also successfully used to assess to behavior of the C-arm with respect to the C-arm orientations. Results showed a clear variation of the principal point when the LAO/RAO orientation was changed. In contrast, the intrinsic parameters do not change during a cranio-caudal C-arm motion.