Computer Aided Surgery Simulation and Planning Technology Application Demostration With Dental Implant Surgery

We demonstrate a auditory and/or visual simulation display for precise manipulation of surgical devices. A computer-generated simulacrum improves surgical outcome and suggests a platform for local semiautonomous teleoperation and enhancement of Battlefield 2000 telesurgery. The concept is analogous to the use of a flight simulator or trainer used to recreate an incident from flight recordings so that experienced pilots can diagnose and improve their skills. Installation of dental implants in the jaws risks infection damage to the maxillary sinus by perforation, or the loss of sensation by puncturing the mandibular nerve canal. Currently, the determination an optimal placement is currently done by eye, educated guess, and extrapolition on the part of the radiologist reading the dental reformatted flat CD slices. Execution and placement of the implant in the jaws is done by the seat of the pants navigation on the part of the implantologist, surgeon, or dentist. Application of the existing hard tissue position sensor as well as advanced surface modeling to the problems of accurate, real time, three dimensional generation of surgical anatomy improves surgical outcomes. Success of this project will a profitable commercial testbed and showcase for various other high tech computer aided surgical technology under development by this group and by DARPA/DSO Medical Robotics.