Introduction: The use of laparoscopic and robotic liver surgery is increasing. However, it presents challenges such as limited field of view and organ deformations. Surgeons rely on laparoscopic ultrasound (LUS) for guidance, but mentally correlating ultrasound images with pre-operative volumes can be difficult. In this direction, surgical navigation systems are being developed to assist with intra-operative understanding. One approach is performing intra-operative ultrasound 3D reconstructions. The accuracy of these reconstructions depends on tracking the LUS probe.
Material and methods: This study evaluates the accuracy of LUS probe tracking and ultrasound 3D reconstruction using a hybrid tracking approach. The LUS probe is tracked from laparoscope images, while an optical tracker tracks the laparoscope. The accuracy of hybrid tracking is compared to full optical tracking using a dual-modality tool. Ultrasound 3D reconstruction accuracy is assessed on an abdominal phantom with CT transformed into the optical tracker's coordinate system.
Results: Hybrid tracking achieves a tracking error < 2 mm within 10 cm between the laparoscope and the LUS probe. The ultrasound reconstruction accuracy is approximately 2 mm.
Conclusion: Hybrid tracking shows promising results that can meet the required navigation accuracy for laparoscopic liver surgery.
Keywords: Laparoscopic ultrasound tracking; laparoscopic liver surgery; surgical navigation; ultrasound reconstruction.