A biomechanical model of lung deflation during VATS for the localization of small nodules

International audienceVideo Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS) is the non-invasive surgical procedure prescribed for the treatment of early-stage lung cancer. The planning of the procedure via preoperative imaging provides the surgeon with information about the localization of the nodule to be extracted. However, during the procedure, the presence of a pneumothorax considerably deforms lung structures, which makes the intraoperative localization of the nodule a real challenge. In this work, a biomechanical model of the lung is proposed. This model is used to simulate the lung's deformation due to gravity and pneumothorax, which is then used to estimate the intraoperative position of the nodule