Towards direct head navigation for robot-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation using 3D laserscans: Idea, setup and feasibility

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2010:2010:2283-6. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2010.5627660.

Abstract

Direct tracking is more robust than tracking that is based on additional markers. 3D laser scans can be used for direct tracking because they result in a 3D data set of surface points of the scanned object. For head-navigated robotized systems, it is crucial to know where the patient's head is positioned relatively to the robot. We present a novel method to use a 3D laserscanner for direct head navigation in the robotized TMS system that places a coil on the patient's head using an industrial robot. First experimental results showed a translational error < 2mm in the robot hand-eye-calibration with the laserscanner. The rotational error was 0.75° and the scaling error < 0.001. Furthermore, we found that the error of a scanned head to a reference head image was < 0.2mm using ICP. These results have shown that a direct head navigation is feasible for the robotized TMS system. Additional effort has to be made in future systems to speed up the compution time for real time capability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Biomedical Engineering / methods
  • Calibration
  • Equipment Design
  • Head / pathology
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Lasers
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
  • Phantoms, Imaging
  • Robotics*
  • Software
  • Time Factors
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / instrumentation*
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / methods