Intra‐operative ultrasound‐based augmented reality guidance for laparoscopic surgery

Abstract

In laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon must operate with a limited field of view and reduced depth perception. This makes spatial understanding of critical structures difficult, such as an endophytic tumour in a partial nephrectomy. Such tumours yield a high complication rate of 47%, and excising them increases the risk of cutting into the kidney's collecting system. To overcome these challenges, an augmented reality guidance system is proposed. Using intra‐operative ultrasound, a single navigation aid, and surgical instrument tracking, four augmentations of guidance information are provided during tumour excision. Qualitative and quantitative system benefits are measured in simulated robot‐assisted partial nephrectomies. Robot‐to‐camera calibration achieved a total registration error of 1.0 ± 0.4 mm while the total system error is 2.5 ± 0.5 mm. The system significantly reduced healthy tissue excised from an average (±standard deviation) of 30.6 ± 5.5 to 17.5 ± 2.4 cm 3 ( p < 0.05) and reduced the depth from the tumor underside to cut from an average (±standard deviation) of 10.2 ± 4.1 to 3.3 ± 2.3 mm ( p < 0.05). Further evaluation is required in vivo, but the system has promising potential to reduce the amount of healthy parenchymal tissue excised.