In the endoscopic surgical fields, much information which could be used intraoperatively is strongly demanded. We formulated a new magneto-optic hybrid3D sensor configuration, and have developed an augmented reality navigation system using the accurate three dimensional sensor system that can be utilized in the endoscopic surgeries. This system measures the3D position of the tip of ultrasound probe in the abdominal cavity using magnetic3D position tracker. Accuracy of the magnetic tracker is

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... ected by metallic objects such as surgical tools that distort the magnetic field. We propose real-time distortion correction of the magnetic fields using a magneto-optic hybrid 3D position tracker aiming to acquire the accurate3D ultrasound image. In this paper, we evaluated the effectiveness of the navigation system especially that of our method of rapid distortion correction of magnetic fields in the operative environment. The error caused by magnetic distortion was reduced from 34.6mm to2.59mm in position and from9.08degrees to0.82degrees in orientation. The time to obtain the calibration data was69seconds. Three dimensional ultrasound imaging has the advantage that real time imaging is acquirable, regardless of organ shift or distortion. Our experimental results showed the proposed method was effective.