METHOD OF REAL-TIME TRACKING OF MOVING/FLEXIBLE SURFACES

摘要

The present invention provides a method for real-time tracking of moving flexible surfaces and an image guided surgical robotic system using this tracking method. A vision system acquires an image of the moving flexible surface and identifies and tracks visual features at different times. The method involves computing both rigid and stretching transformations based on the changing positions of the visual features which are then used to track any area of interest on the moving flexible surface as it evolves over time. A robotic surgical system using this real-time tracking is disclosed.

主权项

1. A vision system for real-time tracking of moving and flexible surfaces, comprising:
a) a stereo endoscope for acquiring images of a region of a moving flexible surface, and a light source for illuminating the region of moving flexible surface; b) a vision processor connected to said stereo endoscope and said light source, said visional processor programmed with instructions for analyzing images from said stereo endoscope and computing, in real time, a current location of the region of moving flexible surface based on a current image of the region of moving flexible surface and a previous location of the region of moving flexible surface; c) a computer controller connected to said vision processor, said computer controller including a visual display for displaying images of a region of the moving flexible surface; d) said computer controller being programmed to pass one or more designated positions on said moving flexible surface to said vision processor, and wherein the vision processor is programmed to continuously track the one or more designated surgical positions on the moving flexible surface to provide updated positions of said one or more designated positions.