Fig 1.
The RALTCT system and the operation environment.
(a) The RALTCT system consists of four basic components: (1) the ultrasound (US) machine for two-dimensional (2D) US image display, (2) a five degrees-of-freedom (DOF) robot to manipulate the needle, (3) a PC-based surgical workstation that integrates the surgical navigation software and supervisory control of the robot, and (4) an electro-magnetic (EM) tracking system to record the position and orientation of the US probe. (b) The operation environment (top view).
Fig 2.
Overall schematic of a planning and US image-based navigation system for large liver tumors.
a-c are parts of step (1), d-f are parts of step (2), g is part of step (3).
Fig 3.
Schematic diagram of the environment of an abdominal operation.
Fig 4.
Flowchart of multiple-needle insertion trajectory planning (the obstacles in the first needle insertion trajectory planning environment are the ribs and blood vessels in the abdominal cavity.
The obstacles in the subsequent needle-insertion-trajectory planning environment include the previously inserted needles as new obstacles).
Fig 5.
Needle-insertion trajectory planning for needle j.
Fig 6.
Stereogram of the needle.
Fig 7.
The coordinate frames.
Fig 8.
Schematic diagram of the grid method’s solution.
Fig 9.
Schematic diagram of the judgment as to whether the needle-insertion trajectory is within the boundary of the needle CFRW.
Fig 10.
Schematic diagram of multiple-needle surgical planning environment.
(a) The abdominal operation environment. (b) The information of target points and insertion order.
Fig 11.
The boundaries of needle 1’s CFRW.
(a) The 2D CFRW for needle 1 with z = 150. (b) The 3D CFRW for needle 1 with z = 150, 160, 170 mm.
Fig 12.
The local enlarged map.
Fig 13.
Optimal needle-insertion trajectory planning.
Fig 14.
The needle2 CFRW.
Fig 15.
The 3D boundary of CFRW for needle 2.
Fig 16.
Optimal needle-insertion trajectories for needle 1 and needle 2.
Fig 17.
The 3D boundary of needle 3’s CFRW.
Fig 18.
The optimal needle-insertion trajectories of the three needles.
Fig 19.
The surgery environment of the in vitro porcine liver.
Fig 20.
Three-dimensional scenes from the surgical navigation software for the first needle surgical planning.
Fig 21.
Three-dimensional scenes from the surgical navigation software for the second needle surgical planning.
Fig 22.
Results of the 3-cm-diameter artificial tumor experiment.
(a) The outside appearance of experiment. (b) the insertion accuracy of the two needle.
Fig 23.
Schematic diagram of a 6-cm-diameter artificial tumor embedded in the porcine liver.
Fig 24.
Three-dimensional scenes from the surgical navigation software for four needles surgical planning.
Fig 25.
Results of the 6-cm-diameter artificial tumor experiment.