Surgical procedures
Surgery has come a long way from very evasive up the current laparoscopic technique, which requires only small incisions in the abdomen wall. There is a current push to once again revolutionize the way many surgeries are performed. Minimally invasive transgastric and transcolonic surgery, also know as Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES), is a method that utilizes CT and ultrasound imaging to perform scarless operations by route of the gastrointestinal tract. Preoperative CT data is used to create a 3D anatomic model that matches oblique slices and is used for macroscopic navigation. Endoscopic ultrasound is used for real-imaging to perform surgical procedures including biopsy and resection. Tracking of the endoscope is made possible by attaching an electromagnetic probe to the tip increasing the diameter by less than 2mm, as shown in the figure below. [13]

The Voshurgh group from MIT has described a system in where the surgeon would be able to view three separate images during the operation; they include a 3D CT model, CT oblique slices, and ultrasound. Figure 10 shows one example where the three images offer different perspectives of the same location. [13]

Although new, the utilization of ultrasound enhanced by contrast microbubbles may greatly improve the accuracy and potential of many current surgical procedures