Multiview Glasses-Free 3-D Laparoscopy

Numerous attempts have been made to introduce three-dimensional (3-D) video systems into clinical routine, particularly for surgeries. The drawback with all of them thus far has been the fact that they require users to wear cumbersome glasses in order to receive the advantage of stereoscopy. In this study, we present, to our best knowledge, the world´s very first laparoscopic surgical system that delivers glasses-free multiview 3-D in high-definition (HD) resolution. In addition to quantitative evaluations of the individual video processing components in our previous studies, we perform an initial subjective study with laparoscopically experienced surgeons, yielding very promising results. This study is still preliminary and requires further evaluation before the system may be introduced into standard surgical routine. Yet, we have developed a fully functioning prototype and successfully demonstrated its potential to numerous surgeons.