Development of an Augmented Reality Guidance System for Head and Neck Cancer Resection

The use of head-mounted augmented reality (AR) for surgeries has grown rapidly in recent years. AR aids in intraoperative surgical navigation through overlaying 3D holographic reconstructions of medical data. However, performing AR surgeries on complex areas poses challenges in terms of accuracy and speed. This study explores the feasibility of an AR guidance system for resections of positive tumor margins at the head and neck region. We present an intraoperative solution that enables surgeons to access holographic reconstructions of resected cadaver tissues. The solution involves using 3D scanner to capture detailed scans of the resected tissue, which are uploaded into our software. It then converts these scans into holograms that are viewable through a head-mounted AR display. Surgeons navigates the tumor site by re-aligning these holograms with cadavers using gestures or voice commands. This workflow runs concurrently with frozen section analysis. On average, we achieve an uploading time of 2.98 min, visualization time of 1.05 min and re-alignment time of 4.39 min, within the 20 - 30 min window for frozen section analysis. We achieve a mean re-alignment error of 3.1 mm. Our software provides a foundation for new product development in using AR to navigate complex anatomy in surgery.