Image-guided surgery helps surgeons perform safer and less invasive procedures and has become a recognized standard of care in managing disorders including cranial, otorhinolaryngology, spine, orthopedic, and cardiovascular.
[4] The benefits of Image-guided surgery include greater control of the surgical procedure, real-time feedback on the effect of the intervention, reduced tissue trauma and disruption in gaining access to the anatomical structure.
Image-guided surgery allows for: reduced post-operative neural deficits and adverse events associated with endovenous laser ablative procedures,[5] and more effective removal of brain tumors that were once considered inoperable due to their size or location.
Image-guided surgery using medical ultrasound utilises sounds waves and as such does not require the protection and safety precautions necessary with ionising radiation modalities such as fluoroscopy, CT, X-Ray and tomography.
Optical topographic imaging using structured light and machine vision stereoscopic cameras has been applied in neurosurgical navigation systems to reduce the use of intraoperative ionising radiation as well.
[7] Image guidance is used to assist surgeons with identifying anatomic landmarks and surgical planes between the prostate and neurovascular bundles during nerve-sparing procedures.