Ultrasound-Based Visual Servoing for Out-of-Plane Longitudinal Needle Tracking in Robot-Aided Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy

Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a minimally invasive procedure to remove large renal calculi through a small incision in the patient’s back. Ultrasound (US) imaging is commonly used to guide the needle to the kidney during this procedure. However, it requires an advanced level of d...

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Main Authors: Hoorieh Mazdarani, Ben Sainsbury, James Watterson, Rebecca Hibbert, Carlos Rossa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10967380/
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author Hoorieh Mazdarani
Ben Sainsbury
James Watterson
Rebecca Hibbert
Carlos Rossa
author_facet Hoorieh Mazdarani
Ben Sainsbury
James Watterson
Rebecca Hibbert
Carlos Rossa
author_sort Hoorieh Mazdarani
collection DOAJ
description Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a minimally invasive procedure to remove large renal calculi through a small incision in the patient’s back. Ultrasound (US) imaging is commonly used to guide the needle to the kidney during this procedure. However, it requires an advanced level of dexterity to coordinate the US probe and the needle to keep the needle visible in the images at all times. Failure to maintain needle-probe alignment can result in inadvertent injury, bleeding, and other complications. The use of robotic assistance can alleviate the surgeon’s cognitive workload by enabling autonomous positioning of the US probe and accurate needle tracking. This paper presents a new US-guided visual servoing (VS) algorithm for needle tracking using longitudinal US images of a needle subjected to out-of-plane motion. The ultrasound probe can move in 4 degrees-of-freedom (DOF), that is, two translations and one rotation in the imaging plane, and one rotation out of the imaging plane. Unlike previously reported VS algorithms, 4-DOF tracking is achieved using only 2D-US images and without any additional position sensor or prior knowledge of the needle trajectory. The algorithm is validated extensively in three different experimental scenarios using a water tank, a tissue phantom, and ex-vivo porcine tissue. Results obtained from several trials confirm the algorithm’s ability to track the needle and maintain needle-probe alignment with an average error of 1.5 mm, despite an out-of-plane average needle deflection of 7 mm along a 60 mm insertion depth.
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spelling doaj-art-5b2dacca1b0a4bb68ebf99238604daa22025-08-20T02:18:55ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113690906910210.1109/ACCESS.2025.356207810967380Ultrasound-Based Visual Servoing for Out-of-Plane Longitudinal Needle Tracking in Robot-Aided Percutaneous NephrolithotomyHoorieh Mazdarani0https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6072-8127Ben Sainsbury1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2394-4026James Watterson2Rebecca Hibbert3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0563-9052Carlos Rossa4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5879-1752Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, CanadaMarion Surgical, Seguin, ON, CanadaFaculty of Medicine, Division of Urology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, CanadaDepartment of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USADepartment of Systems and Computer Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, CanadaPercutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a minimally invasive procedure to remove large renal calculi through a small incision in the patient’s back. Ultrasound (US) imaging is commonly used to guide the needle to the kidney during this procedure. However, it requires an advanced level of dexterity to coordinate the US probe and the needle to keep the needle visible in the images at all times. Failure to maintain needle-probe alignment can result in inadvertent injury, bleeding, and other complications. The use of robotic assistance can alleviate the surgeon’s cognitive workload by enabling autonomous positioning of the US probe and accurate needle tracking. This paper presents a new US-guided visual servoing (VS) algorithm for needle tracking using longitudinal US images of a needle subjected to out-of-plane motion. The ultrasound probe can move in 4 degrees-of-freedom (DOF), that is, two translations and one rotation in the imaging plane, and one rotation out of the imaging plane. Unlike previously reported VS algorithms, 4-DOF tracking is achieved using only 2D-US images and without any additional position sensor or prior knowledge of the needle trajectory. The algorithm is validated extensively in three different experimental scenarios using a water tank, a tissue phantom, and ex-vivo porcine tissue. Results obtained from several trials confirm the algorithm’s ability to track the needle and maintain needle-probe alignment with an average error of 1.5 mm, despite an out-of-plane average needle deflection of 7 mm along a 60 mm insertion depth.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10967380/Medical roboticsneedle trackingpercutaneous nephrolithotomyrobot-assisted surgerytool trackingultrasound imaging
spellingShingle Hoorieh Mazdarani
Ben Sainsbury
James Watterson
Rebecca Hibbert
Carlos Rossa
Ultrasound-Based Visual Servoing for Out-of-Plane Longitudinal Needle Tracking in Robot-Aided Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy
IEEE Access
Medical robotics
needle tracking
percutaneous nephrolithotomy
robot-assisted surgery
tool tracking
ultrasound imaging
title Ultrasound-Based Visual Servoing for Out-of-Plane Longitudinal Needle Tracking in Robot-Aided Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy
title_full Ultrasound-Based Visual Servoing for Out-of-Plane Longitudinal Needle Tracking in Robot-Aided Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy
title_fullStr Ultrasound-Based Visual Servoing for Out-of-Plane Longitudinal Needle Tracking in Robot-Aided Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy
title_full_unstemmed Ultrasound-Based Visual Servoing for Out-of-Plane Longitudinal Needle Tracking in Robot-Aided Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy
title_short Ultrasound-Based Visual Servoing for Out-of-Plane Longitudinal Needle Tracking in Robot-Aided Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy
title_sort ultrasound based visual servoing for out of plane longitudinal needle tracking in robot aided percutaneous nephrolithotomy
topic Medical robotics
needle tracking
percutaneous nephrolithotomy
robot-assisted surgery
tool tracking
ultrasound imaging
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10967380/
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AT rebeccahibbert ultrasoundbasedvisualservoingforoutofplanelongitudinalneedletrackinginrobotaidedpercutaneousnephrolithotomy
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