Augmented virtuality for arthroscopic knee surgery.

This paper describes a computer system to visualize the location and alignment of an arthroscope using augmented virtuality. A 3D computer model of the patient's joint (from CT) is shown, along with a model of the tracked arthroscopic probe and the projection of the camera image onto the virtual joint. A user study, using plastic bones instead of live patients, was made to determine the effectiveness of this navigated display; the study showed that the navigated display improves target localization in novice residents.