Feasibility of infrared tracking of beating heart motion for robotic assisted beating heart surgery

Abstract

Background: Accurate tracking of the heart surface motion is a major requirement for robot assisted beating heart surgery.

Method: The feasibility of a stereo infrared tracking system for measuring the free beating heart motion was investigated by experiments on a heart motion simulator, as well as model surgery on a dog.

Results: Simulator experiments revealed a high tracking accuracy (81 μm root mean square error) when the capturing times were synchronized and the tracker pointed at the target from a 100 cm distance. The animal experiment revealed the applicability of the infrared tracker with passive markers in practical heart surgery conditions.

Conclusion: With the current technology, infrared tracking with passive markers might be the optimal solution for accurate, fast, and reliable tracking of heart motion during robot assisted beating heart surgery.

Keywords: accuracy assessment; heart motion simulator; heart motion tracking; in vivo animal experiment; infrared tracker.