NeuroVis: Mixed Reality System for Neurosurgery Case Planning

Background & Unmet Need

• Radiosurgery, or stereotactic surgery, is a noninvasive technique in which focused radiation beams are delivered into the body for treatment of tumors or other abnormalities
• Stereotactic surgery does not require any incisions, and instead uses high resolution, 2D brain scans to target the radiation
• Targeting radiation to minimize damage to surrounding tissues requires a multidisciplinary team
• During radiosurgery case planning, team members must mentally convert complex neural anatomy from 2D brain scans to 3D abstraction
• The ability of team members to do this conversion varies, and current commercially available radiosurgery software allows simulated 3D projections only
• Unmet Need: Precise and anatomical 3D visualization of neural anatomy for surgical case planning and guidance

Technology Overview

• The Technology: A system for visualization of neural anatomy which uses augmented reality to render 3D images of scans
• Volumes of neural structures are obtained by CT/MRI and are processed to build a holographic model resembling the intracranial structures
• A computer program precisely renders the anatomy and allows the user to reconstruct regions of interest, which is projected via a Microsoft HoloLens headset
• PoC Data: Interactive models of neuro-oncologic scenarios have been created, which have demonstrated 3D identification of the following structures:Intercranial metastases,Resection cavity with metastasis,Intraventricular lesion

Technology Applications

• Enhances radiosurgery case planning discussions and allows for practicing in simulations
• Detection of tumors, lesions, and cysts on key organs
• Reconstruction of organs for root-cause analysis of medical conditions
• Use in medical education to study highly variable conditions

Technology Advantages

• Offers 3D views and cross-sectioning capabilities, whereas current imaging technologies only offer views in 2D
• Allows for real-time interaction with the patient’s model, such as moving the model around, hiding structures, fading structures, and layering with 2D imaging
• Compatible with off-the-shelf VR hardware

Figure 1: NeuroVis holograms for a patient undergoing stereotactic radiosurgery planning for treatment of a resection cavity with metastasis (A-C) and for a patient with multiple intracranial metastases (D-F).