LAUSR

BackgroundThe clinical feasibility and usability of intraoperative ultrasonography (IOUS) tracked by computed tomography (CT) images have been proposed; however, it requires technically demanding manual registration procedure.Study designA prospective study using real-time virtual sonography (RVS) with novel automatic registration system was conducted in four high-volume centers of liver resection from 2015 to 2016. The requiring time for registration of IOUS and CT images and positional error of confluence of middle hepatic venous tributaries (V8-MHV, V5-MHV) were measured in patients undergoing laparotomy.ResultsAutomatic registration was successful in 43 of 52 enrolled patients (83%), with error ranges of 11.4 (3.1–69.4) mm for V8-MHV and 16.2 (4.3–66.8) mm for V5-MHV. Time required for total registration process was 36 (27–74) s.ConclusionsThe RVS with novel automatic registration system can provide quick and easy registration and acceptable accuracy, which can promote the usage of IOUS.