Development of a 3D Shape and Position Monitoring System for Flexible Surgical Instruments

Abstract

Surgical instruments include rigid surgical tools and flexible surgical tools. In the case of rigid surgical tools, the insertion path in the human body is simple in a straight line, so it is possible to easily measure the position from outside the human body. However, flexible surgical tools have curves in the insertion path, making it difficult to measure the position as well as three-dimensional shapes. In this paper, we propose a system that can measure both the three-dimensional shape and position of flexible surgical tools in the human body by measuring three-dimensional shape using optical fiber sensors and manufacturing a roller-shaped insertion length measuring instrument.