Ultrasonic sensor system for measuring position and orientation of laproscopic instruments in minimal invasive surgery

Abstract

In minimal invasive surgery usually an endoscope is used to show the surgeon what is happening inside the human body. However, this view is very limited and gives no information of instrument positions outside the camera view. A new positioning system is proposed that should give the surgeon the exact location and orientation of the instruments in the patient. The measuring 'system consists of markers placed on the instruments, outside of the human body. Knowing the dimensions of the usually rigid instruments it is possible to calculate their position and orientation inside the human body from the marker positions. Two pairs of ultrasound markers placed on each instrument will suffice to measure both the position and orientation. The detection of marker positions is realized by an array of ultrasound receivers. The influence of variations in temperature, humidity and pressure of air on the phase-shift and time-of-flight methods was investigated. Using the time of flight method, the variations of distance and time of flight have a linear correlation and it seems that an accurate measurement system can be achieved.

Towards development of a tele‐mentoring framework for minimally invasive surgeries

“…However, in certain MISs, such as NOTES 57,58 or single incision surgery with actuated scopes and instruments, 59,60 the current tracking setup is not sufficient due to occlusion causes in the line of sight of the optical tracking system. Additional tracking mechanisms, 61 such as electromagnetic tracking systems (e.g., Patriot TM by Polhemus), ultrasonic sensors 62,63 or mechanical arms with inbuilt gimbal mechanism 64 need to be integrated with the tele-mentoring framework. This will assist to track (a) poses of the camera and (b) positions of the incision points or even the poses from where instruments exist flexible endo-luminal cannulas inside the patient's body.…”

Design and fabrication of a flexible MEMS-based electro-mechanical sensor array for breast cancer diagnosis

“…One of the fastest growth areas is incorporating MEMS devices on surgical tools which facilitate the surgeon by providing real-time force feedback, measuring tissue density, temperature and providing more precise method for tissue cutting and extraction and thus improving surgical outcomes [1-7]. To use the MEMS devices for surgical and bio-medical application, there are fabrication challenges apart from integrating it with electronics, signal processing, calibration and device packaging [4-5]. Recently, much attention is focused on flexible, or skin-like sensor array with multiscale architectures for detecting mechanical, chemical, thermal, and optical changes [8-17].…”

“…MEMS devices are small in size and can be batch fabricated at low cost, thereby having a competitive advantage over other devices. One of the fastest growth areas is incorporating MEMS devices on surgical tools which facilitate the surgeon by providing realtime force feedback, measuring tissue density and temperature, and providing a more precise method for tissue cutting and extraction and thus improving surgical outcomes [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. To use the MEMS devices for surgical and bio-medical applications, there are fabrication challenges apart from integrating it with electronics, signal processing, calibration and device packaging [4,5].…”

Applications of MEMS in Surgery

“…Markers on the outside of the body do not take into account compression of the tissue. MEMS-based acoustic tracking systems have been developed to address these issues [20].…”