Software Toolkit for Image Guided Surgery

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this Phase II STTR proposal is to develop a freely available, open-source software toolkit for image-guided surgery. This proposal is a partnership between a university-based biomedical research group (Imaging Science and Information Systems [ISIS] Center, Department of Radiology, Georgetown University) and a small business specializing in open-source software development (Kitware, Inc. of Clifton Park, NY). The partnership of Phase I will be extended to include the Computer-Aided Diagnosis and Display Laboratory (CADDLab, Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina) to increase the number and variety of methods in the toolkit and to evaluate the usability and extensibility of the toolkit by groups beyond the Phase I development team. The Image-Guided Surgery Toolkit (IGSTK: pronounced IGstick) is a high-level component based framework providing common functionality for image-guided surgery applications. This software framework will be configurable and based on open-source standards. The framework will consist of a set of high-level components (2D and 3D viewers, tracker interfaces, registration modules, etc.) integrated with other lower level open-source libraries and application programming interfaces (APIs) from hardware vendors. The toolkit will allow researchers to quickly build prototype systems for image-guided surgery for specific applications such as minimally invasive cancer treatments, vascular interventions, and percutaneous spinal procedures. The specific aims of the proposal are: 1. Toolkit design. A demonstration framework has been completed in Phase I. Based on the additional applications proposed here in Phase II, this framework will be enhanced by re-examining the requirements and additional components will be designed to provide new functionality. 2. Toolkit implementation and testing. The additional components defined in Aim 1 will be implemented and documented. A testing framework will also be developed. A hazard analysis will be performed. 3. Toolkit incorporation and dissemination. The toolkit will be incorporated in three demonstration clinical applications involving image guidance: guidewire tracking and display, needle segmentation and tracking, and liver biopsy. Dissemination activities will be undertaken with the aim of fostering the use of the toolkit in research and clinical applications.