Horizon stabilized--dynamic view expansion for robotic assisted surgery (HS-DVE).

Area of Science:

• Minimally Invasive Surgery
• Surgical Robotics
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Natural Orifice Transluminal Surgery (NOTES) offers reduced morbidity but faces challenges like spatial disorientation.
• Key factors contributing to disorientation include retroflexion, lack of fixed anatomical references, and limited field-of-view.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a hybrid system integrating orientation sensing and real-time vision processing for improved NOTES surgical navigation.
• To restore orientation cues and enhance visualization during complex NOTES procedures.

Main Methods:

• An inertial measurement unit (IMU) on a robotic endoscope provides horizon stabilization by measuring gravity.
• Dynamic view expansion and simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) create an enlarged anatomical visualization.
• Real-time vision processing reorients and stabilizes video images.

Main Results:

• The system demonstrated clinical potential in a NOTES appendectomy on the NOSsE phantom.
• Horizon stabilization was quantitatively evaluated against ground truth.
• The approach successfully navigated and visualized the appendix during retroflexion.

Conclusions:

• Horizon stabilization and dynamic view expansion effectively reintroduce orientation and navigation cues in NOTES.
• The real-time implementation of this platform is crucial for future clinical evaluation.