Robotic Scanning Device for Intraoperative Thyroid Gland Endomicroscopy.
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| Abstract | :  Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy has a high potential to be a promising tool that can provide intraoperative high-resolution in vivo morphological imaging at cellular and subcellular levels for thyroidectomy, and allow real-time assessment of tumor margins. However, the typical images acquired with this technique cover a very small area limited by the field of view of the probe, accompanied by tissue deformation and inconsistent probe-tissue contact when operated manually. In this paper, a novel compact robotic device for large area scanning has been developed. The device can scan a large surface in a spiral trajectory by rotating the tip frame along the spiral groove of the base frame. The fiber Bragg grating sensor with a passive linear structure is used to detect and maintain a stable probe-tissue contact force during scanning. An active linear actuation is also integrated for adjusting the probe-tissue contact level prior to each scan. Results demonstrate that the scanning device ensures a suitable probe-tissue contact force and compensates for simulated hand tremor. Mosaicing results of lens tissue paper and porcine belly tissue with both bench and hand-held experiments show the effectiveness and usability of the device, demonstrating the potential clinical value of the system. | 
| Year of Publication | :  2018 | 
| Journal | :  Annals of biomedical engineering | 
| Date Published | :  2018 | 
| ISSN Number | :  0090-6964 | 
| URL | :  https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10439-018-1978-x | 
| DOI | :  10.1007/s10439-018-1978-x | 
| Short Title | :  Ann Biomed Eng | 
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