A Model for an Augmented Reality Tool in Tumour Removal Laparoscopic Surgery

Abstract

One of the most lethal types of cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma, cancer in the liver. Because of the many risks entailed with open surgery, the use of laparoscopic surgery has increased, with no exception in liver resections. Instead of a big cut, minimally invasive techniques are used, placing small ports on the abdomen where surgical tools as well as a laparoscope can be inserted. The surgeons orient themselves from the outside, creating a perception of the inside through the 2D images from the camera and a preoperative 3D image on the side as a map. Since the liver is an essentially homogeneous organ, it can be hard to orient from this information, why surgeons in Gothenburg have developed markers to place on the liver’s surface. With help of such markers, the goal is to develop an augmented reality tool for intraoperative guidance, mapping the laparoscopic 2D image to the corresponding 3D position, and be able to project a tumour area in the laparoscopic view. In this work, an inventory of laparoscopic liver resection was performed and a camera model as well as a simulated liver environment was developed. To map a 2D image to the 3D environment, an algorithm for estimation of the camera pose, named POSIT, was examined. It was concluded that the limitations of POSIT were not compatible with the problem, but the platform developed, consisting of a simulated liver environment and the camera model, can be used as a framework for future work, in which testing of other algorithms to estimate the camera pose can be performed.