Gaze-contingent perceptually enabled interactions in the operating theatre

Area of Science:

• Medical technology
• Surgical innovation
• Human-computer interaction

Background:

• Operating theatre safety and efficiency are critical challenges in modern surgery.
• Current systems often lack integrated perceptual data, limiting real-time decision-making.
• A need exists for advanced frameworks to enhance surgical performance and patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present core functionalities of a low-cost framework enabling perceptually enabled interaction in the surgical environment.
• To improve surgical outcome and patient safety through integrated information collection and utilization.
• To develop a system that leverages multi-source perceptual data for enhanced surgical awareness.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing the synergy of wearable eye-tracking and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) computer vision.
• Integrating an articulated collaborative robotic arm and laser pointer for 3D spatial projection.
• Demonstrating a core functionality: projecting the surgeon's fixation point in real-time 3D space.

Main Results:

• The system was evaluated using 60 fixations on predefined targets at varying distances.
• The median overall system error was measured at 3.98 cm.
• The real-time potential of the framework was highlighted, indicating its applicability in dynamic surgical settings.

Conclusions:

• This work introduces and experimentally validates core functionalities of a novel surgical framework.
• The developed framework aims to enhance safety and efficiency within the operating theatre.
• Preliminary results show promising accuracy and real-time capabilities for surgical applications.