Region-Selective Endoscopic Image Correction for Tele-Operated Surgery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Minimally invasive telesurgical systems face challenges in providing a clear, distortion-free image of surgical scenes captured with ultra-wide-angle lenses, as existing distortion correction methods often discard important peripheral information, compromising situational awareness and field of view.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that applies selective distortion correction to a central region of the image, maintaining high fidelity and situational awareness by preserving peripheral information, using sensors to dynamically adjust the central region's location and extent based on user gaze and surgical scene features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If distortion correction is applied to the entire image, then image fidelity in the central region is improved, but peripheral information is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The image is divided into a central region and a peripheral region, with different distortion correction strategies applied to each. The central region receives full distortion correction for high fidelity, while the peripheral region maintains its original distorted state to preserve situational awareness and field of view information.
Solution Approach 2:
Different quality levels of distortion correction are applied to different parts of the image. The central region undergoes complete distortion correction to achieve high image fidelity, while the peripheral region retains its original characteristics to maintain situational awareness, creating local quality variations optimized for different functional requirements.
2Area of stationary object
If ultra-wide-angle lenses are used, then field of view is improved, but image distortion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The image processing approach segments the ultra-wide-angle image into a central region where distortion is corrected for surgical precision, and a peripheral region where the distorted ultra-wide-angle view is preserved to maintain expanded field of view benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the ultra-wide-angle image are assigned different quality characteristics. The central region undergoes distortion correction to achieve accurate geometric representation for surgical tasks, while the peripheral region maintains the characteristic ultra-wide-angle distortion to preserve the expanded field of view.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical system may comprise a display device, an endoscope, and one or more processing devices configured to perform a process. The process may comprise receiving, from the endoscope, a source image representing a view of a surgical scene and processing the source image to detect a feature of the source image. The process may further include determining a first region of the source image based on the detected feature. A second region of the source image at least partially surrounds the first region and includes a source distortion. The process may further include applying a distortion correction to a portion of the source image to generate a modified image by applying a first degree of distortion correction in the first region and a second degree of distortion correction in the second region. The second degree of distortion correction preserves the source distortion in a portion of the second region.