Pattern recognition in hyperspectral data acquired during surgical procedures: Differentiation between nerve and adipose tissue

Intraoperative nerve localization is extremely important during surgery, especially laparoscopy. This is particularly challenging when nerves show visual resemblance to surrounding tissue. An example of such a delicate procedure is thyroid and parathyroid surgery, where iatrogenic injury of the recurrent laryngeal nerve can result in transient...

Automated spectroscopic tissue classification in colorectal surgery

In colorectal surgery, detecting ureters and mesenteric arteries is of utmost importance to prevent iatrogenic injury and to facilitate intraoperative decision making. A tool enabling ureter- and artery-specific image enhancement within (and possibly through) surrounding adipose tissue would facilitate this need, especially during laparoscopy....

Differentiation between nerve and adipose tissue using wide-band (350–1,830 nm) in vivo diffuse reflectance spectroscopy

Background: Intraoperative nerve localization is of great importance in surgery. In certain procedures, where nerves show visual resemblance to surrounding adipose tissue, this can be particularly challenging for the human eye. An example of such a delicate procedure is thyroid and parathyroid surgery, where iatrogenic injury of the recurrent...

In vivo wide-band reflectance spectrometry during thyroid and parathyroid surgery

Distinguishing critical tissues can be challenging in (para-)thyroid surgery. As a first step towards intraoperative image contrast enhancement, we collected and analyzed spectral signatures (350-1830nm) of thyroid, parathyroid and recurrent laryngeal nerve in 10 patients.

Wide Band Reflectance Spectrometry and Hyperspectral Imaging for Intraoperative Tissue Recognition (abstract only)

One of the challenges during surgery is to make a proper distinction between vital tissues, structures and organs, both at the surface of the exposed area and beneath it. Currently, identification of different tissue types relies either on the skills and anatomical knowledge of the surgeon (e.g., nerves, blood vessels, different tissue types),...

In vivo optical characterization of critical tissues during colorectal surgery (abstract only)

BACKGROUND: During colorectal surgical dissections, recognizing essential anatomy is crucial to prevent iatrogenic injury. This study builds forth upon previously identified new inherent anatomical spectral contrasts in fresh human colonic samples. AIM: Assessment of optical spectrometry for discriminating critical tissues (colon, adipose tissue...

Difuse optical reflectance spectrometry in thyroid and parathyroid surgery (abstract only)

INTRODUCTION: In thyroid and parathyroid surgery iatrogenic injury of the parathyroid glands or the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) is a possible complication that needs to be prevented. The visible contrast between thyroid and parathyroid tissue is delicate to observe. The aim of this pilot study was to collect in vivo spectral reflectance...

Serious gaming and voluntary laparoscopic skills training: A multicenter study

This study assesses the issue of voluntary training of a standardized online competition (serious gaming) between surgical residents. Surgical residents were invited to join a competition on a virtual reality (VR) simulator for laparoscopic motor skills. A final score was calculated based on the task performance of three exercises and was...