Robot assisted endomicroscopic image mosaicing with optimal surface coverage and reconstruction

Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy is an emerging technique for real-time in vivo and in situ tissue characterization. Major challenges related to the use of confocal endomicroscopy in clinical environments are the narrow field of view of pCLE images and a lack of spatio-Iocalization. The flexibility of the probe also hampers its manipulation in a consistent manner. These challenges are addressed in this paper by using a compliant robotic manipulator to provide simultaneous image mosaicing and surface reconstruction. The tip position given by the robot is combined with image registration in order to achieve accurate localization. Issues related to optimal path planning for 3D surface coverage are addressed. The proposed method enables the derivation of a functional three-dimensional map of the tissue suitable for intraoperative margin definition during cancer surgery.