Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 16, 2026
Multispectral Real-time Fluorescence Imaging for Intraoperative Detection of the Sentinel Lymph Node in Gynecologic Oncology
Published on: October 20, 2010
Navigation of a robot-integrated fluorescence laparoscope in preoperative SPECT/CT and intraoperative freehand SPECT
Matthias Nathanaël van Oosterom1, Myrthe Adriana Engelen2, Nynke Sjoerdtje van den Berg3
1Leiden University Medical Center, Department of Surgery, Albinusdreef 2, Leiden 2333 ZA, The NetherlandsbLeiden University Medical Center, Department of Radiology, Interventional Molecular Imaging Laboratory, Albinusdreef 2, Leiden 2333 ZA, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery is becoming an established technique for prostatectomy and is increasingly being explored for other types of cancer. Linking intraoperative imaging techniques, such as fluorescence guidance, with the three-dimensional insights provided by preoperative imaging remains a challenge. Navigation technologies may provide a solution, especially when directly linked to both the robotic setup and the fluorescence laparoscope. We evaluated the feasibility of such a setup. Preoperative single-photon emission computed tomography/X-ray computed tomography (SPECT/CT) or intraoperative freehand SPECT (fhSPECT) scans were used to navigate an optically tracked robot-integrated fluorescence laparoscope via an augmented reality overlay in the laparoscopic video feed. The navigation accuracy was evaluated in soft tissue phantoms, followed by studies in a human-like torso phantom. Navigation accuracies found for SPECT/CT-based navigation were 2.25 mm (coronal) and 2.08 mm (sagittal). For fhSPECT-based navigation, these were 1.92 mm (coronal) and 2.83 mm (sagittal). All errors remained below the <1-cm detection limit for fluorescence imaging, allowing refinement of the navigation process using fluorescence findings. The phantom experiments performed suggest that SPECT-based navigation of the robot-integrated fluorescence laparoscope is feasible and may aid fluorescence-guided surgery procedures.
