Using motion parallax for laparoscopic surgery.

Abstract

In typical stereo display systems, the reproduced 3D scene is distorted when the observer moves. Motion parallax is an important depth cue that has the ability to correct this distortion. More importantly, motion parallax enables the observer to look around objects to provide a better view. A robotically assisted laparoscope prototype was designed to provide motion parallax. A study to adjust the camera-head mapping ratio (gain of motion parallax) was performed. A series of phantom tests was conducted to test the effectiveness of motion parallax. The experimental results showed that the motion parallax was effective, and the gain of motion parallax was subjective. For a regular laparoscope view distance, larger image zooming rates required smaller gain; for the same equivalent image size, further observer distance decreased the optimal gain. Motion parallax could be used for improved visualization in laparoscopic surgery. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.