The Role and Future of Endoscopic Imaging Systems

Abstract

Visual perception is the main sensory input from the environment in most situations of daily life. It is the only sensory input from the operating field in endoscopic surgery, and thus the qualities of the optical imaging system have a considerable impact on the course of the surgical intervention. Significant improvements have been made recently in various fields of science and engineering, influencing endoscopic imaging systems in experimental and clinical use. Among these are technologies that improve the endoscope itself in terms of providing new visual features, such as fogging prevention and plastic images, using new illumination techniques. Other developments concern the improvement of image resolution and color fidelity through new charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors or alternative techniques for image creation. Finally, the combination of endoscopic technologies with robotics provides for intuitive and more efficient direction of the line of sight.

The benfits of stereoscopic vision in robotic-assisted performance on bench models

“…It is well established that in open surgery most of the sensory input is derived from vision, whereas the remainder comes from tactile feedback. However, in laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon is forced to rely even more on the visual input as tactile feedback decreases [8,14,15]. Thus, the prolonged learning curve associated with laparoscopic surgery is partly due to the lack of stereoscopic vision.…”

Telesurgical Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy

“…Shadows can be introduced by using illumination cannulae [15]. Stereovision can be introduced by using a stereo–endoscopic system.…”

Robotic Endoscopy

“…Another example is the TISKA Endoarm developed by the Karlsruhe Research Center, Germany, and KARL STORZ GmbH & Co., Tuttlingen, Germany ( fig. 2b) [7]. It utilized a special parallelogram mechanism to keep the point at the trocar insertion invariant (remote center of motion (RCM)).…”