Utilisation de la réalité virtuelle pour la planification chirurgicale des tumeurs au niveau de la colonne vertébrale

Abstract

Spinal tumors, whether primary or metastatic, present an important challenge in neurosurgery due to their proximity to neurological structures, especially the spinal cord and nerve roots. When surgical intervention is necessary, careful surgical planning is crucial to reduce the risk of intraoperative or postoperative problems. However, conventional 2D or 3D medical image visualizations on a computer display are limited in their spatial perceptive capabilities. Neurosurgeons have considerable cognitive workload as they must mentally reconstruct a 3D image from 2D visualizations to accurately understand the anatomical structures. Additionally, analyzing spatial relationships between anatomical structures, even with 3D images on a computer screen, can become challenging in certain situations. In response to these visualization constraints, virtual reality has arisen as an innovative solution, providing immersive and interactive visualization experiences. This research aims to assess the effects of virtual reality on the surgical planning of spinal tumors. This study compares two visualization modalities: virtual reality and computer, to determine whether virtual reality improves the perception of anatomical structures and enhances the selection of surgical approaches. The methodology is based on work domain analysis in neurosurgery, an approach coming from cognitive engineering. This methodology enabled the creation of an objective assessment scale to quantify and qualify the anatomofunctional information obtained from the two visualization modalities. The user study involved eight neurosurgeons from the University of Montreal Hospital Center (CHUM), each responsible for planning surgery for six distinct spinal tumor cases using both visualization modalities. The results indicated that virtual reality facilitated the visualization of a greater number of anatomical structures in a shorter time compared to the computer. Furthermore, virtual reality enabled the visualization of a greater number of anatomical structures to be traversed to reach the tumor, thus improving the planning of the surgical approach. The effect of virtual reality on recognizing critical anatomical structures for surgical planning and its role in decision-making, especially for the choice of surgical approach, was demonstrated. Virtual reality offers an immersive and interactive perspective, helping neurosurgeons in surgical planning by minimizing the risks of intraoperative and postoperative complications.

Date	18 Oct 2024
Original language	French
Awarding Institution	École de technologie supérieure
Supervisor	Simon Drouin (Supervisor)