Demonstration of Work Towards an Autonomous Robot for Camera Control During Laparoscopic Surgery

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: During laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon currently must instruct a human camera operator or a robotic arm to move the camera. This process distracts the surgeon, and the camera is not always placed in an ideal location. To mitigate these problems, we have developed a test platform that tracks the tips of laparoscopic instruments and automatically moves a camera with no explicit human direction.1,2 The video demonstrates the movement of the camera with the developed system. A novice is shown using the system to complete a peg transfer task. In addition, the software interface is displayed, which illustrates how the system tracks the tools using colored markers. Materials and Methods: The test platform is designed to mimic a typical laparoscopic working environment, where two hand-operated tools have access to a surgical site through small ports. A pan-tilt-zoom camera is positioned over the tools, which emulates the positioning capabilities of a straight (0°) scope placed through a t...