Accuracy of computer navigation in ear, nose, throat surgery - The influence of matching strategy

Objective: To measure the effect of 4 different matching strategies on the accuracy of computer navigation on the face and within the nose and rhinoph arynx. Design: Survey. Setting: Laboratory study. Subjects: Six human cadavers studied within 24 hours of death. Interventions: A commercially available navigation system with infrared opt ical tracking was used for computer navigation on the face and within the n ose of the subjects after matching with external fiducials or with 3 differ ent configurations of anatomical landmarks. Navigation errors were measured and correlated to matching strategies and compared through statistical ana lysis. Results: Matching with external fiducials on the face results in smaller na vigation error than matching with anatomical landmarks. The configuration o f matching strategies with anatomical landmarks also significantly determin es the accuracy of computer navigation, especially when different locations of accuracy measurement are considered. Conclusion: Statistically significant findings have shown that the choice o f a matching strategy is a major factor in the accuracy of computer navigat ion for ear, nose, throat surgery.