Marker-less Augmented Reality based on Monocular Vision for Falx Meningioma Localization

Background The existing augmented reality (AR) based neuronavigation systems typically require markers and additional tracking devices for model registration, which causes excessive preparatory steps. Methods For fast and accurate intraoperative navigation, this work proposes a marker-less AR system that tracks the head features with the monocular camera. After the semi-automatic initialization process, the feature points between the captured image and the pre-loaded keyframes are matched for obtaining correspondences. The camera pose is estimated by solving the Perspective-n-Point problem. Results The localization error of AR visualization on scalp and falx meningioma is 0.417 ± 0.057 and 1.413 ± 0.282 mm, respectively. The maximum localization error is less than 2 mm. The AR system is robust to occlusions and changes in viewpoint and scale. Conclusions We demonstrate that the developed system can successfully display the augmented falx meningioma with enough accuracy and provide guidance for neurosurgeons to locate the tumour in brain. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.