title: Computer-assisted laser photocoagulation of the retina--a hybrid tracking approach.
abstract: A system for robotically assisted retinal surgery has been developed to rapidly and safely place lesions on the retina for photocoagulation therapy. This system provides real-time, motion stabilized lesion placement for typical irradiation times of 100 ms. The system consists of three main subsystems: a digital-based global tracking subsystem; a fast, analog local tracking subsystem; and a confocal reflectance subsystem to control lesion parameters dynamically. We have reported previously on these individual subsystems. This paper concentrates on the development of a second hybrid system prototype. Considerable progress has been made toward reducing the footprint of the optical system, simplifying the user interface, fully characterizing the analog tracking system, using measurable lesion reflectance parameters to develop a noninvasive method to infer lesion depth, and integrating the subsystems into a seamless hybrid system. These system improvements and progress toward a clinically significant system are covered in detail within this paper. The tracking algorithms and concepts developed for this project have considerable potential for application in many other areas of biomedical engineering.
authors.affiliation: University of Wyoming, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, P.O. 3295, Laramie, Wyoming 82071-3295, USA.
authors.forename: Espen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Naess
authors.forename: Torstein
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Molvik
authors.forename: Dustin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: Stanislaw
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Legowski
authors.forename: Cameron
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Graaf
mesh_terms: D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D017075:Laser Coagulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055095:Optics and Photonics / Q000295:instrumentation; D012160:Retina / Q000601:surgery*; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*