Stereoscopic Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging: A Proof of Concept Toward Real-Time Depth Perception in Surgical Robotics

Abstract

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The increasing use of surgical robotics has provoked the necessity for new medical imaging methods. Many assistive surgical robotic systems influence the surgeon's movements based on a model of constraints and boundaries driven by anatomy. This study aims to demonstrate that Near-Infrared Fluorescence (NIRF) imaging could be applied in surgical applications to provide subsurface mapping of capillaries beneath soft tissue as a method for imaging active constraints. The manufacture of a system for imaging in the near-infrared wavelength range is presented, followed by a description of computational methods for stereo-post-processing and data acquisition and testing used to demonstrate that the proposed methods are viable. The results demonstrate that it is possible to use NIRF for the imaging of a capillary submersed up to 11 mm below a soft tissue phantom, over a range of angles from 0° through 45°. Phantom depth has been measured to an accuracy of ±3 mm and phantom angle to a constant accuracy of ±1.6°. These findings suggest that NIRF could be used for the next generation of medical imaging in surgical robotics and provide a basis for future research into real-time depth perception in the mapping of active constraints.

Keywords

• active constraints
• stereoscopic near-infrared fluorescence
• depth perception
• real-time image acquisition
• NIRF imaging