Ultrasound in image fusion: a framework and applications

The framework for image fusion used here was based on methods for computer-assisted surgery expanded to include ultrasound imaging and techniques for displaying fused images. In neurosurgery, ultrasound images fused with MR or CT data sets have provided (1) real-time imaging with the interpretive simplicity of MR or CT and (2) the means for assessing intra-operative changes in the anatomy. In the spine, ultrasound images have been used to achieve percutaneous registration of the spine with a CT data set, an enabling procedure for radiosurgery and minimally-invasive spinal surgery