Role Specific Views for Laparoscopic Surgery

Timothy W Perez, MD, MPH, Marios Pattichis, PhD, Yuebing Jiang, PhDc, Bilal Khan, MD

University of New Mexico, Department of Surgery, Dept of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Objective of the technology

In laparoscopic surgery the surgeon and the assistant share a single video perspective. However, the visual needs of a surgeon often differ from that of an assistant. The degree of detail necessary for the primary surgeon excludes the wider perspective an assistant needs to efficiently and safely manipulate their instruments. Role Specific Views (RSV) is a video image processing technology that we created to overcome this limitation. It creates separate video perspectives tailored for the differing clinical roles of the surgical team.

Description of the technology and method of its use

RSV was created using algorithms developed by our team with open source image processing software (OpenCV). The digital video signal from a Stryker 1088 camera was input to a video capture card ( Epiphan DVI2PCIe) mounted on a Intel 3.4 GHz I7 microprocessor based desktop computer. The panoramic and close-up images produced by these algorithms were output to separate monitors.

Preliminary results

Using the RSV technology, we have successfully produced both close-up and panoramic images from a single laparoscopic video signal. These images can be generated in real time and at a rate of 30 frames per second. Various interpolation methods were tested for the best balance between image resolution and continuous motion. Additional algorithms are in development to allow the close-up image to track the movement of a laparoscopic instrument.

Conclusions/Future directions

RSV technology can successfully generate real time, high quality panoramic and close-up images from a laparoscopic camera system. The clinical impact of RSV has yet to be studied, but a pilot study is proposed to evaluate RSV in a surgical environment.

While optimal visualization is fundamental to efficient surgical team performance, the current laparoscopic imaging paradigm typically compromises between detail and panoramic views. By providing a visual perspective best suited for each member’s role, RSV promises to increase efficiency and safety of the surgical team.

Session: Podium Presentation

Program Number: ET012