Intraoperative Robotic-Assisted Large-Area High-Speed Microscopic Imaging and Intervention

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Robotics
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• Probe-based confocal endomicroscopy offers cellular-level in vivo imaging for pathology assessment.
• Current limitations include small fields-of-view and manual probe manipulation challenges for intraoperative surgical guidance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel robotic device for large-area endomicroscopy imaging.
• To enable rapid, accurate scanning and image-based motion control for histology-like mosaics.
• To integrate tissue ablation capabilities into robotic endomicroscopy.

Main Methods:

• A robotic system with a rapid scanning mechanism and image-based motion control was designed.
• The device was programmed with precise trajectories for accurate positioning.
• Capabilities for ex vivo tissue imaging and integrated tissue ablation were implemented.

Main Results:

• The robotic device achieved high positioning accuracy (less than 30 μm).
• Image-based control suppressed motion disturbances effectively.
• Large-area mosaics (> 4 cm²) of ex vivo human and animal tissues were generated rapidly (approx. 15 min).

Conclusions:

• The developed instrument demonstrates potential for large-area, high-resolution microscopic imaging.
• It facilitates intraoperative tissue identification and margin assessment.
• This approach offers a significant reduction in tissue assessment time compared to traditional histology.