Hidden Tumour Visualization in Augmented Monocular Liver Laparoscopy

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Surgical Technology
• Computer-Aided Surgery

Background:

• Accurate depth perception of hidden tumors in augmented monocular liver laparoscopy remains a significant challenge.
• Current methods using preoperative CT registration are often slow and fail due to liver deformation and lack of features.
• Continuous tumor augmentation for surgical guidance is hindered by registration limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel visualization method for improved hidden tumor depth perception in augmented liver laparoscopy.
• To overcome the limitations of real-time registration in augmented reality liver surgery.
• To enhance surgical guidance by providing metric depth perception of tumors.

Main Methods:

• Replaced deformable preoperative-to-intraoperative liver registration with rigid tumor registration using laparoscopic ultrasound imaging.
• Developed a visualization technique that incorporates partial occlusion from an overlaid organ mesh for depth cues.
• Addressed challenges including surgical tool occlusions and real-time processing.

Main Results:

• The proposed method demonstrated superior performance in depth perception compared to state-of-the-art techniques.
• Achieved faster processing times than traditional registration methods.
• Successfully handled surgical tool occlusions within the augmented visualization.

Conclusions:

• The novel visualization method using laparoscopic ultrasound significantly enhances metric depth perception for hidden tumors.
• This approach offers a more robust and continuous surgical guidance solution for augmented liver laparoscopy.
• The method outperforms existing techniques and addresses critical limitations in current augmented reality surgical systems.