Augmented reality simulation framework for minimally invasive orthopedic surgery

Purpose: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has emerged in clinical practice to minimize surgical trauma, providing patients with faster recovery, reduced pain and complications and enhanced aesthetic results compared to traditional surgery. However, this approach increase the risk of iatrogenic damage, i.e. the accidental injury to sensitive anatomical structures (eg. nerves and vascular strcuteres) not directly visible during a percutaneous access. Augmented reality (AR) can effectively mitigate these drawbacks by overlaying graphical information onto the surgical field and providing real-time feedback, offering support in training settings and clinical practice. Implementation challenges have limited the number of case studies in the scientific literature. This study presents a novel simulation paradigm for orthopedic surgery training, filling a gap in surgical skill development resources for trainees, and demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach. Methods: The proposed methodology provides a framework for building a cost-effective and easily reproducible surgical training simulation environment. To address the challenge of mental spatial navigation during MIS procedures, the framework's rationale is to address the challenge of mental spatial navigation during MIS procedures. A surgical gesture tracking system using a commercial depth camera for comfortable simulation was developed. The principles of the acquisition system, image processing, and spatial computation mechanics are detailed to illustrate the framework's applicability. Digital environments customization with game engines to simulate expensive medical instrumentation, such as the C-arm, is also demonstrated. The simulation platform comprises a Computer Vision (CV) module, an X-ray machine simulation module, and an AR module. Results: System validation involved analysis at different framework levels. From texture analysis of acquired images to application accuracy evaluation, the influence of various parameters on system performance is demonstrated. The simulation system is a valuable tool for learning minimally invasive procedures and for developers building AR systems for medical applications. The implementation is focused on the insertion surgical devices, including screws and K-wires. This is results in real application in minimizing the risk of iatrogenic injury to neural and vascular structures. To demonstrate the effectiveness of highly reproducible accuracy between real and virtual environment an analysis of errors and accuracies is illustrated at level of different subsystems. Measurement between comparative measurement between vernier caliper and simulation system methods shows a R>0.9 with a p<0.01. Application accuracy was evaluated using the following parameters. The relative point-to-point accuracy averaged 1.02mm with a standard deviation of 2.82mm. Future development includes clinical implementation and integration of advanced AI technologies.