The Feasibility of Electromagnetic Navigation Technique to Achieve Preoperative Plan in Mandibular Angle Osteotomy.

Background: In contrast to the most commonly used optical navigation system, electromagnetic navigation has huge potential in operations with a narrow field. The purpose of this experiment was to test and confirm whether the electromagnetic navigation method the authors developed for mandibular angle osteotomy (MAO) met clinical requirements.

Methods: Using a dental splint that could be repeatedly mounted on teeth, registration between surgical plan and actual field was performed automatically.

Results: Navigation of MAO was first performed on 10 mandibular models. The position precision measured using a coordinate measuring machine was 1.30±0.61 mm. Then, a navigation experiment was performed on 4 patients. Accuracy in actual operation measured by the NDI pointing sensor was 1.89±0.76 mm. Our noninvasive automatic registration process reduced the surgical exposure time and eliminated the bias of the manual selection of registration points.

Conclusions: This preliminary study confirmed the feasibility of the electromagnetic navigation technique in terms of both applicability and accuracy in MAO surgery.