Magneto-Optical Tracking of Flexible Laparoscopic Ultrasound: Model-Based Online Detection and Correction of Magnetic Tracking Errors

Electromagnetic tracking is currently one of the most promising means of localizing flexible endoscopic instruments such as flexible laparoscopic ultrasound transducers. However, electromagnetic tracking is also susceptible to interference from ferromagnetic material, which distorts the magnetic field and leads to tracking errors. This paper presents new methods for real-time online detection and reduction of dynamic electromagnetic tracking errors when localizing a flexible laparoscopic ultrasound transducer. We use a hybrid tracking setup to combine optical tracking of the transducer shaft and electromagnetic tracking of the flexible transducer tip. A novel approach of modeling the poses of the transducer tip in relation to the transducer shaft allows us to reliably detect and significantly reduce electromagnetic tracking errors. For detecting errors of more than 5 mm, we achieved a sensitivity and specificity of 91% and 93%, respectively. Initial 3-D rms error of 6.91 mm were reduced to 3.15 mm.