SPIE Medical Imaging 50th anniversary: historical review of the Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling conference

PURPOSE: Among the conferences comprising the Medical Imaging Symposium is the MI104 conference currently titled Image-Guided Procedures, Robotic Interventions, and Modeling, although its name has evolved through at least nine iterations over the last 30 years. Here, we discuss the important role that this forum has presented for researchers in the field during this time. APPROACH: The origins of the conference are traced from its roots in Image Capture and Display in the late 1980s, and some of the major themes for which the conference and its proceedings have provided a valuable forum are highlighted. RESULTS: These major themes include image display/visualization, surgical tracking/navigation, surgical robotics, interventional imaging, image registration, and modeling. Exceptional work from the conference is highlighted by summarizing keynote lectures, the top 50 most downloaded proceedings papers over the last 30 years, the most downloaded paper each year, and the papers earning student paper and young scientist awards. CONCLUSIONS: Looking forward and considering the burgeoning technologies, algorithms, and markets related to image-guided and robot-assisted interventions, we anticipate growth and ever increasing quality of the conference as well as increased interaction with sister conferences within the symposium.