A Stereo Thermographic System for Intra-operative Surgery

A stereo far-infrared (FIR) system based on the trigonometric parallax is presented in this paper for locating the distal arterial tree from the coronary artery bypass graft. The system can obtain the wide angle-of-view range information in the near distance by changing the optical path of one fixed uncooled FIR camera. Meanwhile, the speed of pixel movement on the FIR imaging plane is discussed for avoiding the problem on the imaging blur because the images are taken in sequence from a scanning mirror for the real-time monitor of the operation. Besides, the view range is also considered under the different system parameter conditions. After the structure parameters are simulated for evaluating the performance, the optimum system can be designed. This thermal imaging technique is inexpensive, noninvasive and feasible for intra-operative surgery