Stable Image Registration for In-Vivo Fetoscopic Panorama Reconstruction

Floris Gaisser,Dick Oepkes,Boris Lenseigne,Pieter Jonker,Suzanne Peeters

doi:10.3390/jimaging4010024

Abstract

A Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) is a condition that occurs in about 10% of pregnancies involving monochorionic twins. This complication can be treated with fetoscopic laser coagulation. The procedure could greatly benefit from panorama reconstruction to gain an overview of the placenta. In previous work we investigated which steps could improve the reconstruction performance for an in-vivo setting. In this work we improved this registration by proposing a stable region detection method as well as extracting matchable features based on a deep-learning approach. Finally, we extracted a measure for the image registration quality and the visibility condition. With experiments we show that the image registration performance is increased and more constant. Using these methods a system can be developed that supports the surgeon during the surgery, by giving feedback and providing a more complete overview of the placenta.

Highlights

IntroductionThe Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) is a condition involving monochorionic twins (twins with a shared placenta) with an imbalance in blood exchange that occurs through vascular anastomoses (connecting blood vessels) on the shared placenta
The Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) is a condition involving monochorionic twins with an imbalance in blood exchange that occurs through vascular anastomoses on the shared placenta
In our previous work we investigated what is necessary to move from ex-vivo to in-vivo fetoscopic panorama reconstruction and we identified specific challenges for an in-vivo setting: The visibility is complicated by the color and turbidity of the amniotic fluid

Summary

Introduction

The Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) is a condition involving monochorionic twins (twins with a shared placenta) with an imbalance in blood exchange that occurs through vascular anastomoses (connecting blood vessels) on the shared placenta It occurs in about 10% of such pregnancies and is a condition that can lead to fatal complications for both twins [1]. This surgery increases the survival rate over other techniques but relies on the condition that all vascular anastomoses have been found [2] For this the surgeon has to scan the placenta for all places where blood vessels of the two twins connect and accurately note them. Fetoscopic panorama reconstruction has mostly been done ex-vivo [6,7,8,9]

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion