Enhancing Spatial Navigation in Robot-Assisted Surgery: An Application

Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) has become a standardized practice in contemporary prostate cancer surgical procedures. Nowadays, the use of tailored surgical procedures in urologic surgery aims to maximize treatment efficacy while minimizing its impact on patient functions and health-related quality-of-life parameters. Augmented reality (AR) technology appears as a significant development in Image Guided Surgery (IGS) integrating surgical navigation with 3D virtual organ models registered on to the real patient’s anatomy. In particular, AR provides surgeons the ability to see through solid objects; as such, it has been exploited in different surgical specialties. In this paper, we present the development of a software system augmenting the spatial navigation of the surgical environment allowed by surgical robots. The application is able to visualize the 3D virtual model of the organ (prostate and kidneys) targeted by the surgical procedure, overlay it over its real counterpart, as captured by the endoscope camera, using of registration and tracking techniques in real time, and stream the augmentation to the surgeon.