Assessment of a Markerless Optical Tracking Technique for Computer-Assisted Hip Surgery

摘要

This article presents an evaluation of a prototype optical tracking system intended for use in computer-assisted orthopedic surgery. The device is based on a smartphone with a built-in video camera, and an external miniature time-of-flight camera. It is able to automatically recognize a surgical instrument based on its shape and appearance, and to determine its orientation relative to an array of light-reflective markers. The experiments were done in a measurement configuration and with the instruments that are specific to computer-assisted implantation of the acetabular component in total hip replacement surgery. The evaluation included the recognition rate of the instruments, and the angular accuracy of the system. The results show, that the accuracy is comparable to that obtained by conventional tracking devices in clinical settings, and partially meets the requirements specified in the literature for hip surgery.