High-throughput multi-resolution foveated laparoscope for minimally invasive surgery

Feasibility and clinical utility of a multi-resolution foveated laparoscope (MRFL) was previously tested in a porcine surgical study. The study revealed several clinical limitations of the system including moisture proofing, working distance, image quality, low light performance, color accuracy, size, and weight. In this paper, we discuss the root causes of these limitations and strategies to correct them, present the design and prototyping of a new high throughput multi resolution foveated laparoscope (HT-MRFL), and demonstrate the HT-MRFL prototype performance in comparison to the MRFL and simulated performance metrics.