Positioning method basing on external reference points for surgical robots

Abstract

This paper proposes an automatic laparoscopic camera tracking for conducting optimal visualization of the required area such as operated field in the minimally invasive surgery. A robotic surgery system was designed and developed to perform the camera handling and tracking task during laparoscopic surgery. The method of positioning and automatic tracking for the surgical instruments during the laparoscopic operations was developed. The significant difference of the method is the usage of the markers and reference points that are placed at the visible area (outside the abdomen). This technique allows us to define the coordinates of the laparoscope and the surgical instruments in the operated field by the usage of the methods of vector algebra and geometric transformations without application of the image recognition. The algorithm of the laparoscope control and automatic tracking for the surgical instruments was offered. Also the conditions for the optimal visualization of the operated field were determined. The field of the required laparoscope position according to the surgical instruments was defined. The experimental research of the offered method was done and its justifiability was confirmed. The offered method of positioning and tracking is universal for the different types of the robotic holders with different number of DOFs.