3D Visualization and Interactive Image Manipulation for Surgical Planning in Robot-assisted Surgery

Abstract

Robot-assisted surgery, or "robotic" surgery, has been developed to address the difficulties with the traditional laparoscopic surgery. The da Vinci (Intuitive Surgical, CA and USA) is one of the FDA-approved surgical robotic system which is widely used in the case of abdominal surgeries like hysterectomy and cholecystectomy. The technology includes a system of master and slave tele-manipulators that enhances manipulation precision. However, inadequate guidelines and lack of a human-machine interface system for planning the ports on the abdomen surface are some of the main issues with robotic surgery. Unreachable target and mid-surgery collisions between robotic arms are the major problems that surgeons complain about in robotic surgery. The objective of this research is to design a new decision-support tool for planning port placement in robotic surgery. The decision-support system will be able to determine the optimal location of the entrance ports on the abdomen surface that is specific to the patient.