Intraoperative ultrasound for improved 3D tumour reconstruction in robot-assisted surgery: An evaluation of feedback modalities

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Intraoperative ultrasound scanning induces deformation on the tissue in the absence of a feedback modality, which results in a 3D tumour reconstruction that is not directly representative of real anatomy. METHODS: A biomechanical model with different feedback modalities (haptic, visual, or auditory) was implemented in a simulation environment. A user study with 20 clinicians was performed to assess which modality resulted in the 3D tumour volume reconstruction that most resembled the reference configuration from the respective computed tomography (CT) scans. RESULTS: Integrating a feedback modality significantly improved the scanning performance across all participants and data sets. The optimal feedback modality to adopt varied depending on the evaluation. Nonetheless, using guidance with feedback is always preferred compared with none. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrated the urgency to integrate a feedback modality framework into clinical practice, to ensure an improved scanning performance. Furthermore, this framework enabled an evaluation that cannot be performed in vivo.