Computer-aided stereotaxic neurosurgery

The current generation of stereotaxic neurosurgery systems uses CT or MRI images and a small laptop computer system to determine the coordinates of the target and burr hole entry points. The detail provided by the anatomical atlas is lost. A system is described whereby neuroanatomic atlases mapped onto CT or MRI images provide the neurosurgeon with both the detail of the atlas and the patient-specific coordinate accuracy of the images. Other features of the proposed system include the direct computation of frame settings for the Brown-Roberts-Wells CT-compatible stereotaxic frame, real-time display of multiplanar images of neural structures surrounding the advancing tip of the stereotaxic probe, and the use of intraoperative ultrasonography to enable correcting the actual location of the probe to its computed location.<>