In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Toan Nguyen

will defend his dissertation proposal

Image Guided Liver Resections Using Mechanical Model and Smart Trocar

Abstract

This thesis presents a method for localizing the position of a liver and a tumor within the tissue during a minimally invasive liver operation. From pre-operative CT scans, the liver volume and its internal structures are segmented using image-processing techniques. Based on these segmentations, a three-dimensional mechanical model is built to compute the liver volume and internal structure displacement under boundary conditions such as external forces from the surgical instrument. To obtain proper boundary condition during the surgery, this method needs to register the preoperative data from a CT or MRI scan to the intraoperative patient state. A setup of two Smart Trocars and one 2D endoscope can point out visible features during the surgery and acquire their locations in 3D for registering system. To validate our method, an experiment on a porcine liver explant was performed to assess the difference between actual tissue motion and the mechanical model.

Date: Friday, May 13, 2016
Time: 1:00 PM
Place: PGH 550
Advisor: Dr. Marc Garbey

Faculty, students, and the general public are invited.