Summary
Objectives:
To generate a fast and robust 3-D visualization of the operation site during minimal
invasive surgery.
Methods:
Light fields are used to model and visualize the 3-D operation site during minimal
invasive surgery. An endoscope positioning robot provides the position and orientation
of the endoscope. The a priori unknown transformation from the endoscope plug to the
endoscope tip (hand-eye transformation) can either be determined by a three-step algorithm,
which includes measuring the endoscope length by hand or by using an automatic hand-eye
calibration algorithm. Both methods are described in this paper and their respective
computation times and accuracies are compared.
Results:
Light fields were generated during real operations and in the laboratory. The comparison
of the two methods to determine the unknown hand-eye transformation was done in the
laboratory. The results which are being presented in this paper are: rendered images
from the generated light fields, the calculated extrinsic camera parameters and their
accuracies with respect to the applied hand-eye calibration method, and computation
times.
Conclusion:
Using an endoscope positioning robot and knowing the hand-eye transformation, the
fast and robust generation of light fields for minimal invasive surgery is possible.
Keywords
Light field - hand-eye calibration - minimally invasive surgical procedures - endoscopy
- 3-D visualization
