Intraoperative 3D Stereo Visualization for Image-Guided Cardiac Ablation

There are commercial products which provide 3D rendered volumes, reconstructed from electro-anatomical mapping and/or pre-operative CT/MR images of a patient's heart with tools for highlighting target locations for cardiac ablation applications. However, it is not possible to update the three-dimensional (3D) volume intraoperatively to provide the interventional cardiologist with more up-to-date feedback at each instant of time. In this paper, we describe the system we have developed for real-time three-dimensional stereo visualization for cardiac ablation. A 4D ultrasound probe is used to acquire and update a 3D image volume. A magnetic tracking device is used to track the distal part of the ablation catheter in real time and a master-slave robot-assisted system is developed for actuation of a steerable catheter. Three-dimensional ultrasound image volumes go through some processing to make the heart tissue and the catheter more visible. The rendered volume is shown in a virtual environment. The catheter can also be added as a virtual tool to this environment to achieve a higher update rate on the catheter's position. The ultrasound probe is also equipped with an EM tracker which is used for online registration of the ultrasound images and the catheter tracking data. The whole augmented reality scene can be shown stereoscopically to enhance depth perception for the user. We have used transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) instead of the conventional transoesophageal (TEE) or intracardiac (ICE) echocardiogram. A beating heart model has been used to perform the experiments. This method can be used both for diagnostic and therapeutic applications as well as training interventional cardiologists.