EyeSLAM: Real-time simultaneous localization and mapping of retinal vessels during intraocular microsurgery.

Abstract

Fast and accurate mapping and localization of the retinal vasculature is critical to increasing the effectiveness and clinical utility of robot-assisted intraocular microsurgery such as laser photocoagulation and retinal vessel cannulation. The proposed EyeSLAM algorithm delivers 30Hz real-time simultaneous localization and mapping of the human retina and vasculature during intraocular surgery, combining fast vessel detection with 2D scan-matching techniques to build and localize a probabilistic map of the vasculature. In the harsh imaging environment of retinal surgery with high magnification, quick shaky motions, textureless retina background, variable lighting and tool occlusion, EyeSLAM can map 75% of the vessels within two seconds of initialization and localize the retina in real time with a root mean squared (RMS) error of under 5.0 pixels (translation) and 1° (rotation). EyeSLAM robustly provides retinal maps and registration that enable intelligent surgical micromanipulators to aid surgeons in simulated retinal vessel tracing and photocoagulation tasks.