Overview of multimodality motion tracking for training of Central Venous Catheter placement

Central Venous Catheter (CVC) placement is a common surgical procedure, with an estimated 400,000 complications every year in the United States (Raad 1998). There are mechanical complications related to arterial puncture and pneumothorax derived from improper technique. The lack of correct and repetitive training on central line placement is considered a key factor in these complications. This paper presents and overviews three state-of-the-art human tracking technologies to determine movements of the physician´s head and hands as well as surgical instruments in order to provide a method for performance assessment while performing a CVC placement on a hybrid simulator.