Virtual Anatomy Model Assists Navigated Liver Surgery

A virtual three-dimensional (3D) patient liver model based on radiological image data helps surgeons calculate surgical risks and plan the optimal approach for tumor resection.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing (MEVIS; Bremen, Germany), the University of Bern (Switzerland), and the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital (EHBH; Shanghai, China) are developing the innovative navigation system, which supports the transfer of the preoperatively planned cutting line onto the patient's liver directly in the operating room (OR).


After registering the computer-generated individual model of the organ with the patient's liver in the OR, the navigation system assists the surgeons to orient themselves in the complex network of the liver vessels and to identify the previously determined locations of high-risk structures. The current positions of the surgical instrument and the nearby blood vessels and tumors are continuously displayed on the screen, which provides the surgeons with a controlled realization of the previously planned optimal resection. EHBH liver surgeon Professor Yi Wang, MD, successfully performed three patient operations using the liver navigation system, which is manufactured by CAScination (Bern, Switzerland), a spin-off company of the University of Bern.

Performing over 5,000 liver resections per year, the EHBH is the largest liver center in the world, with over 90% of the treated cases being hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), which can be resected with a high probability of complete cure. The large number and wide scope of liver surgery cases at the EHBH allow both a clinical evaluation of the navigation support for these tumors in a relatively short amount of time, and the incorporation of the results into the further development of the navigation system.

Related Links:
Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing
The University of Bern
Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital