Freehand 3D-US reconstruction with robust visual tracking with application to ultrasound-augmented laparoscopy

Abstract

Three dimensional reconstruction of ultrasound volumes from tracked 2D images is a cost effective intraoperative 3D imaging strategy. The reconstructed volumes can be visualized in-situ if the probe is tracked with respect to the laparoscopic camera during laparoscopic thoraco-abdominal interventions. To this end, efficient, image-based intrinsic pose tracking methods are preferred over well-established extrinsic tracking methods primarily due to cost effectiveness and reduced work-flow overheads. However, the potential of these intrinsic tracking methods as means of tracking in freehand 3D ultrasound reconstruction has not been investigated to-date. In this paper, we demonstrate that a recently proposed image-based, robust pose tracking method can be used to achieve high quality reconstructions. By imaging a tissue-mimicking phantom with structures resembling anatomical targets, we demonstrate that the 3D US volumes resulted from this method are geometrically accurate. Both qualitative and quantitative results of the experiments are presented.