Abstract
A new method has been developed that, based on tracking a guide wire
in monoplane fluoroscopic images, visualizes the approximate guide
wire position in the 3D vasculature, that is obtained prior to the
intervention with 3D rotational X-ray angiography (3DRA). The
method consists of four stages: (i) tracking of the guide wire in 2D
fluoroscopic imaging, (ii) projecting the guide wire from the 2D
fluoroscopic image back into the 3DRA image to determine possible
locations of the guide wire in 3D, (iii) determining the approximate
guide wire location in the 3DRA image based on image features, and
(iv) visualization of the vessel and guide wire location found. The
method has been evaluated using a 3DRA image of a vascular phantom
filled with contrast, and monoplane fluoroscopic images of the same
phantom without contrast and with a guide wire inserted. Evaluation
has been performed for different projection angles. Also, several
feature images for finding the optimal guide wire position have been
compared. Average localization errors for the guide wire and the
guide wire tip are in the range of a few millimetres, which shows
that 3D visualization of the guide wire with respect to
the vasculature as a navigation tool in endovascular procedures is
feasible.
