IGOR: Image guided operating robot. Methodology, applications

Existing imaging devices can be used to plan complex medical and surgical interventions. Recent advances in Robotics provide the opportunity of assisting the physician or the surgeon in performing the intervention. Assisting both planning and performing of interventions raise problems of information modelling, data registration, surgical planning and specific problems for using partially autonomous systems. A general methodology for computer assisted medical interventions is proposed, which turns out to be a particular case of the classical loop of Perception Decision Action. Clinical applications are presented.