A surgical navigation system for oral and maxillofacial surgery and its application in the treatment of old zygomatic fractures

Background Nowadays, there is a trend towards computer-aided oral and maxillofacial surgery. However, due to complicated preoperative planning, traditional neurosurgery-orientated navigation systems are not suitable and have to be adapted. Methods A surgical navigation system is presented for oral and maxillofacial surgery, named AccuNavi, which integrates 3D medical modelling, preoperative surgical planning and intraoperative tracking. Various algorithms were introduced, for each of which a set of dynamic link libraries (DLLs) were developed using C++, as well as the VTK and ITK, via object-orientated programming methodology, allowing for expandability, accessibility and maintainability in our system. Results The advantage of AccuNavi is validated through clinical applications, especially in a case report about the planning and subsequent precise treatment of old zygomatic fractures. The postoperative 3D-reconstructed CT image demonstrated that the fractured zygoma was fixed in the appropriate position and orientation. Conclusions The clinical application demonstrates tyhe feasibility and reliability of AccuNavi, and it can be extended to various areas in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.