Two-Step Trajectory Visualization for Robot-Assisted Spine Radiofrequency Ablations

Radiofrequency Ablations (RFAs) can be employed for the treatment of spine metastases. Instruments are therefor inserted through the vertebra’s pedicle into cancerous tissue within the vertebral body. This requires high precision during interventions. We present a two-step method to increase risk awareness during intervention planning and execution of manual and robot-assisted spine RFAs. Three medical experts evaluated our method and stated that it yields two advantages: First, improved visualizations for manual interventions and second, increased safety in hand-guided, robot-assisted setups.