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A robotic C‐arm fluoroscope
Author(s) -
Binder N,
Matthäus L,
Burgkart R,
Schweikard A
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the international journal of medical robotics and computer assisted surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.556
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 1478-596X
pISSN - 1478-5951
DOI - 10.1002/rcs.34
Subject(s) - computer science , robotic arm , kinematics , computer vision , artificial intelligence , software , cartesian coordinate system , fluoroscopy , encoder , position (finance) , simulation , medical physics , medicine , radiology , mathematics , physics , geometry , finance , classical mechanics , economics , programming language , operating system
Fluoroscopic C‐arms are common devices for acquiring images during surgery. Manual positioning is timeconsuming and requires considerable experience. Trained users must often take several images to find the best viewing direction. If a second image must be taken from the same position, e.g. for postoperative control, the C‐arm must be moved to the exact same position. Without guidance, this is often difficult to accomplish. We developed the idea to completely “robotize” a standard C‐arm, i.e. to equip all joints with motors and encoders. A software environment provides for intelligent control. To archive this goal a complete kinematic analysis of the fluoroscope was necessary. On the basis of this analysis a number of clinical applications have been developed: (1) simplified positioning via cartesian control; (2) automatic acquisition of panoramic images; (3) 3D CT with arbitrary viewing angles; (4) 4D intraoperative CT with/without respiration triggering; (5) automated anatomy‐oriented positioning. The goal of this research is thus three‐fold: minimise radiation exposure of the OR staff, reduce positioning time and offer enhanced imaging capability. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.