2,898 research outputs found
Optical techniques for 3D surface reconstruction in computer-assisted laparoscopic surgery
One of the main challenges for computer-assisted surgery (CAS) is to determine the intra-opera- tive morphology and motion of soft-tissues. This information is prerequisite to the registration of multi-modal patient-specific data for enhancing the surgeon’s navigation capabilites by observ- ing beyond exposed tissue surfaces and for providing intelligent control of robotic-assisted in- struments. In minimally invasive surgery (MIS), optical techniques are an increasingly attractive approach for in vivo 3D reconstruction of the soft-tissue surface geometry. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art methods for optical intra-operative 3D reconstruction in laparoscopic surgery and discusses the technical challenges and future perspectives towards clinical translation. With the recent paradigm shift of surgical practice towards MIS and new developments in 3D opti- cal imaging, this is a timely discussion about technologies that could facilitate complex CAS procedures in dynamic and deformable anatomical regions
Development of Moire machine vision
Three dimensional perception is essential to the development of versatile robotics systems in order to handle complex manufacturing tasks in future factories and in providing high accuracy measurements needed in flexible manufacturing and quality control. A program is described which will develop the potential of Moire techniques to provide this capability in vision systems and automated measurements, and demonstrate artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to take advantage of the strengths of Moire sensing. Moire techniques provide a means of optically manipulating the complex visual data in a three dimensional scene into a form which can be easily and quickly analyzed by computers. This type of optical data manipulation provides high productivity through integrated automation, producing a high quality product while reducing computer and mechanical manipulation requirements and thereby the cost and time of production. This nondestructive evaluation is developed to be able to make full field range measurement and three dimensional scene analysis
Variational Disparity Estimation Framework for Plenoptic Image
This paper presents a computational framework for accurately estimating the
disparity map of plenoptic images. The proposed framework is based on the
variational principle and provides intrinsic sub-pixel precision. The
light-field motion tensor introduced in the framework allows us to combine
advanced robust data terms as well as provides explicit treatments for
different color channels. A warping strategy is embedded in our framework for
tackling the large displacement problem. We also show that by applying a simple
regularization term and a guided median filtering, the accuracy of displacement
field at occluded area could be greatly enhanced. We demonstrate the excellent
performance of the proposed framework by intensive comparisons with the Lytro
software and contemporary approaches on both synthetic and real-world datasets
Accurate Light Field Depth Estimation with Superpixel Regularization over Partially Occluded Regions
Depth estimation is a fundamental problem for light field photography
applications. Numerous methods have been proposed in recent years, which either
focus on crafting cost terms for more robust matching, or on analyzing the
geometry of scene structures embedded in the epipolar-plane images. Significant
improvements have been made in terms of overall depth estimation error;
however, current state-of-the-art methods still show limitations in handling
intricate occluding structures and complex scenes with multiple occlusions. To
address these challenging issues, we propose a very effective depth estimation
framework which focuses on regularizing the initial label confidence map and
edge strength weights. Specifically, we first detect partially occluded
boundary regions (POBR) via superpixel based regularization. Series of
shrinkage/reinforcement operations are then applied on the label confidence map
and edge strength weights over the POBR. We show that after weight
manipulations, even a low-complexity weighted least squares model can produce
much better depth estimation than state-of-the-art methods in terms of average
disparity error rate, occlusion boundary precision-recall rate, and the
preservation of intricate visual features
Progress in industrial photogrammetry by means of markerless solutions
174 p.La siguiente tesis está enfocada al desarrollo y uso avanzado de metodologÃas fotogramétrica sin dianas en aplicaciones industriales. La fotogrametrÃa es una técnica de medición óptica 3D que engloba múltiples configuraciones y aproximaciones. En este estudio se han desarrollado procedimientos de medición, modelos y estrategias de procesamiento de imagen que van más allá que la fotogrametrÃa convencional y buscan el emplear soluciones de otros campos de la visión artificial en aplicaciones industriales. Mientras que la fotogrametrÃa industrial requiere emplear dianas artificiales para definir los puntos o elementos de interés, esta tesis contempla la reducción e incluso la eliminación de las dianas tanto pasivas como activas como alternativas prácticas. La mayorÃa de los sistemas de medida utilizan las dianas tanto para definir los puntos de control, relacionar las distintas perspectivas, obtener precisión, asà como para automatizar las medidas. Aunque en muchas situaciones el empleo de dianas no sea restrictivo existen aplicaciones industriales donde su empleo condiciona y restringe considerablemente los procedimientos de medida empleados en la inspección. Un claro ejemplo es la verificación y control de calidad de piezas seriadas, o la medición y seguimiento de elementos prismáticos relacionados con un sistema de referencia determinado. Es en este punto donde la fotogrametrÃa sin dianas puede combinarse o complementarse con soluciones tradicionales para tratar de mejorar las prestaciones actuales
Development of a stereovision-based technique to measure the spread patterns of granular fertilizer spreaders
Centrifugal fertilizer spreaders are by far the most commonly used granular fertilizer spreader type in Europe. Their spread pattern however is error-prone, potentially leading to an undesired distribution of particles in the field and losses out of the field, which is often caused by poor calibration of the spreader for the specific fertilizer used. Due to the large environmental impact of fertilizer use, it is important to optimize the spreading process and minimize these errors. Spreader calibrations can be performed by using collection trays to determine the (field) spread pattern, but this is very time-consuming and expensive for the farmer and hence not common practice. Therefore, we developed an innovative multi-camera system to predict the spread pattern in a fast and accurate way, independent of the spreader configuration. Using high-speed stereovision, ejection parameters of particles leaving the spreader vanes were determined relative to a coordinate system associated with the spreader. The landing positions and subsequent spread patterns were determined using a ballistic model incorporating the effect of tractor motion and wind. Experiments were conducted with a commercial spreader and showed a high repeatability. The results were transformed to one spatial dimension to enable comparison with transverse spread patterns determined in the field and showed similar results
Appearance Modelling and Reconstruction for Navigation in Minimally Invasive Surgery
Minimally invasive surgery is playing an increasingly important role for patient
care. Whilst its direct patient benefit in terms of reduced trauma,
improved recovery and shortened hospitalisation has been well established,
there is a sustained need for improved training of the existing procedures
and the development of new smart instruments to tackle the issue of visualisation,
ergonomic control, haptic and tactile feedback. For endoscopic
intervention, the small field of view in the presence of a complex anatomy
can easily introduce disorientation to the operator as the tortuous access
pathway is not always easy to predict and control with standard endoscopes.
Effective training through simulation devices, based on either virtual reality
or mixed-reality simulators, can help to improve the spatial awareness,
consistency and safety of these procedures.
This thesis examines the use of endoscopic videos for both simulation
and navigation purposes. More specifically, it addresses the challenging
problem of how to build high-fidelity subject-specific simulation environments
for improved training and skills assessment. Issues related to mesh
parameterisation and texture blending are investigated. With the maturity
of computer vision in terms of both 3D shape reconstruction and localisation
and mapping, vision-based techniques have enjoyed significant interest
in recent years for surgical navigation. The thesis also tackles the problem
of how to use vision-based techniques for providing a detailed 3D map and
dynamically expanded field of view to improve spatial awareness and avoid
operator disorientation. The key advantage of this approach is that it does
not require additional hardware, and thus introduces minimal interference
to the existing surgical workflow. The derived 3D map can be effectively
integrated with pre-operative data, allowing both global and local 3D navigation
by taking into account tissue structural and appearance changes.
Both simulation and laboratory-based experiments are conducted throughout
this research to assess the practical value of the method proposed
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