Feasibility of Augmented Reality-Guided Robotic Ultrasound with Cone-Beam CT Integration for Spine Procedures

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Song, Tianyu, Pabst, Felix, Li, Feng, Velikova, Yordanka, Gafencu, Miruna-Alexandra, Bi, Yuan, Eck, Ulrich, Navab, Nassir
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866914414649671680
author Song, Tianyu
Pabst, Felix
Li, Feng
Velikova, Yordanka
Gafencu, Miruna-Alexandra
Bi, Yuan
Eck, Ulrich
Navab, Nassir
author_facet Song, Tianyu
Pabst, Felix
Li, Feng
Velikova, Yordanka
Gafencu, Miruna-Alexandra
Bi, Yuan
Eck, Ulrich
Navab, Nassir
contents Accurate needle placement in spine interventions is critical for effective pain management, yet it depends on reliable identification of anatomical landmarks and careful trajectory planning. Conventional imaging guidance often relies both on CT and X-ray fluoroscopy, exposing patients and staff to high dose of radiation while providing limited real-time 3D feedback. We present an optical see-through augmented reality (OST-AR)-guided robotic system for spine procedures that provides in situ visualization of spinal structures to support needle trajectory planning. We integrate a cone-beam CT (CBCT)-derived 3D spine model which is co-registered with live ultrasound, enabling users to combine global anatomical context with local, real-time imaging. We evaluated the system in a phantom user study involving two representative spine procedures: facet joint injection and lumbar puncture. Sixteen participants performed insertions under two visualization conditions: conventional screen vs. AR. Results show that AR significantly reduces execution time and across-task placement error, while also improving usability, trust, and spatial understanding and lowering cognitive workload. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of AR-guided robotic ultrasound for spine interventions, highlighting its potential to enhance accuracy, efficiency, and user experience in image-guided procedures.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_22174
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Feasibility of Augmented Reality-Guided Robotic Ultrasound with Cone-Beam CT Integration for Spine Procedures
Song, Tianyu
Pabst, Felix
Li, Feng
Velikova, Yordanka
Gafencu, Miruna-Alexandra
Bi, Yuan
Eck, Ulrich
Navab, Nassir
Human-Computer Interaction
Robotics
Accurate needle placement in spine interventions is critical for effective pain management, yet it depends on reliable identification of anatomical landmarks and careful trajectory planning. Conventional imaging guidance often relies both on CT and X-ray fluoroscopy, exposing patients and staff to high dose of radiation while providing limited real-time 3D feedback. We present an optical see-through augmented reality (OST-AR)-guided robotic system for spine procedures that provides in situ visualization of spinal structures to support needle trajectory planning. We integrate a cone-beam CT (CBCT)-derived 3D spine model which is co-registered with live ultrasound, enabling users to combine global anatomical context with local, real-time imaging. We evaluated the system in a phantom user study involving two representative spine procedures: facet joint injection and lumbar puncture. Sixteen participants performed insertions under two visualization conditions: conventional screen vs. AR. Results show that AR significantly reduces execution time and across-task placement error, while also improving usability, trust, and spatial understanding and lowering cognitive workload. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of AR-guided robotic ultrasound for spine interventions, highlighting its potential to enhance accuracy, efficiency, and user experience in image-guided procedures.
title Feasibility of Augmented Reality-Guided Robotic Ultrasound with Cone-Beam CT Integration for Spine Procedures
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.22174