Demonstrations

Image-guided therapies (IGT) are medical procedures that use computer-based systems that provide navigation facilities and supplemental procedure information to help the physician precisely visualize and target the surgical site. The SlicerIGT extension provides a platform for rapid development of IGT applications. This extension provides a number of modules that can be used directly for performing IGT tasks. These modules can also be re-used (through code) for the development of a new IGT module. This page will take you through:

  1. How to write configuration files (xml format) to connect to the PlusServer for broadcasting ultrasound images and tracking data to slicer.
  2. Two demos that show how to use two of the existing SlicerIGT modules (i.e. Pivot and ultrasound probe calibrations). These modules require either real-time tracking data and/or ultrasound streaming, which are acquired through the PlusSever. A link to the source code on GitHub is also provided.
  3. How to display a model of a tracked calibrated needle in slicer.


Note: 
This section will review a method for performing the pivot and ultrasound probe calibrations using two independent slicer modules. Other methods to perform these tasks include the Plus library, or an independent method used by yourself or your lab.

3D SlicerIGT extension installation

Note: The OpenIGTLinkIF module is available within the IGT extension. The SlicerOpenIGTLink is also available as a stand alone extension in Slicer 4.9 and later, and can be installed separately from the SlicerIGT extension.

  

Figure 1: Steps for installing the SlicerIGT extension.