Augmented reality navigation system for robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy

Abstract

We have developed a surgical navigation system for robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (RALPN). In this system, a three-dimensional computer graphics (3DCG) model generated from each patient’s computed tomography image is overlaid on the endoscopic image, and we control it manually to navigate the vascular structure and tumor location in real time. The position and orientation of the 3DCG model is calculated from the optical flow of the endoscopic camera images, which enables the model to move semi-automatically. We conducted 20 navigations for RALPN from April 2014 to December 2016. Our support system worked appropriately and was helpful to localize the tumor and determine the resection line.