Review on vision‐based tracking in surgical navigation

Abstract

Computer vision is an important cornerstone for the foundation of many modern technologies. The development of modern computer-aided-surgery, especially in the context of surgical navigation for minimally invasive surgery, is one example. Surgical navigation provides the necessary spatial information in computer-aided-surgery. Amongst the various forms of perception, vision-based sensing has been proposed as a promising candidate for tracking and localisation application largely due to its ability to provide timely intra-operative feedback and contactless sensing. The motivation for vision-based sensing in surgical navigation stems from many factors, including the challenges faced by other forms of navigation systems. A common surgical navigation system performs tracking of surgical tools with external tracking systems, which may suffer from both technical and usability issues. Vision-based tracking offers a relatively streamlined framework compared to those approaches implemented with external tracking systems. This review study aims to discuss contemporary research and development in vision-based sensing for surgical navigation. The selected review materials are expected to provide a comprehensive appreciation of state-of-the-art technology and technical issues enabling holistic discussions of the challenges and knowledge gaps in contemporary development. Original views on the significance and development prospect of vision-based sensing in surgical navigation are presented.