Electromagnetically tracked personalized templates for surgical navigation.

EM-tracked impressions-a hybrid of personalized templates and EM navigation-are a promising technology for orthopedic applications. The two technical contributions are the novel hybrid navigation and the consistent use of lines as fiducial objects, replacing traditional point-based computations. The accuracy improvement was attributed to the combination of physical surfaces and line directions in the processes of calibration and registration. The technical studies and preclinical trial suggest that EM-tracked impressions are an accurate, ergonomic innovation in image-guided orthopedic surgery.