- Reuben Dorent (King's College London, UK)
- Tina Kapur (Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA)
- Sarah Frisken (Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA)
- Mohammad Jafari (Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA)
- Samantha Horvath (Kitware)
- Jean-Christophe Fillion-Robin (Kitware)
- Harneet Cheema (Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA)
- Fryderyk Kögl (BWH, TUM)
Neuronavigation systems allow for visualization of pre-operative images and planning information to estimate the precise location of target surgical areas. Patient-to-image mapping is a key step in the workflow of these neuronavigation systems. Registration approaches typically rely on landmarks on pre-operative images as well as on the patient in the operating room (OR) [1]. An alternative approach would be to directly map the patient's skin surface [2]. While extracting the skin surface of the patient in the OR can be performed using existing technologies (e.g., a pointer, a laser) [3], automatic skin surface extraction on scans remains an open problem. This project aims at developing an automated skin segmentation tool for pre-operative scans.
- Create a database with manual annotations of the skin on T1w scans.
- Develop a basic deep learning approach to perform skin segmentation.
- Integrate the framework in Slicer.
- Develop a method that is: 1/ robust to different acquisition protocols (e.g., scanner manufacturer, slice thickness, acquisition orientation); 2/ robust to different imaging modalities (e.g. CT, T1w MR, T2-FLAIR MR); relatively fast (~1-2min max).
- Assess the performance of the proposed technique.
- Develop a Slicer module with the pre-trained model.
- The algorithm has been developed.
- The Slicer module is now available here
- The algorithm still needs to be benchmarked and qualitatively assessed
- Gerard, Ian J et al. “New Protocol for Skin Landmark Registration in Image-Guided Neurosurgery: Technical Note.” Neurosurgery vol. 11 Suppl 3 (2015): 376-80; discussion 380-1. doi:10.1227/NEU.0000000000000868
- Shamir, R. R., Freiman, M., Joskowicz, L., Spektor, S., & Shoshan, Y. (2009). Surface-based facial scan registration in neuronavigation procedures: a clinical study, Journal of Neurosurgery JNS, 111(6), 1201-1206. Retrieved Jan 3, 2022, Link
- BrainLab Softouch®