SynthesisBiomedical engineering online2025
Performance of optically tracked instrumented pointers: a systematic literature review.
Synthesis in Biomedical engineering online, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundA systematic review was conducted to provide an overview of the performance of optically tracked instrumented pointers in motion analysis. Due to the insights provided, relevant research on pointers using very similar principles in surgical navigation is also included.
methodsEnglish language articles published up until April of 2025 were searched with keywords like 'pointer', 'anatomical landmark' and 'motion analysis' that report on a measurement design adequate to assess pointer performance in appropriate detail.
resultsThe included databases were Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed and Web of Science. The search resulted in a total of 192 unique articles. Two researchers screened the records and followed up on references that were potentially relevant based on their citation context. One hundred twenty-five additional articles were identified this way. A total of 24 papers were included in the final review: 16 related to surgical navigation, and 8 to motion analysis.
conclusionsBased on the narrative synthesis, motion capture-based pointers for motion analysis can have errors as large as 5 mm, while the expected errors of surgical navigation pointers are below 1 mm. The most critical factors in pointer performance, besides the measurement volume of the tracking system, are the instrument's length, the arrangement of the tracked instrumenting markers and the quality of the tip's calibration, which determines the relative position of the pointer tip compared to the instrumenting markers. The insights from the research covered in this review can help set a benchmark for performance for current and future localiser systems, both in motion analysis and in surgical navigation. Users of such systems can use this information to check and compare the performance of their systems, while developers and researchers can use the data to develop more accurate systems and pointers.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.