Surgeons may soon ‘see around corners’ through real-time 3D images

A first-of-its-kind endoscope that allows surgeons to see around obstructions and generate real-time 3D images while performing surgery, may soon be a reality thanks to a recent license agreement made between The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and EndoPodium, a minimally invasive surgical technology company based in San Diego, California.

“SickKids has always been at the forefront of developing cutting-edge medical technology,” says Dr. James Wright, Chief of Perioperative Services and Surgeon-in-Chief at SickKids, “This agreement is the first step towards making many surgeries faster and easier and ultimately improving patient outcomes.”

Under the agreement SickKids and EndoPodium will collaborate to create a prototype of an endoscope that will function similar to an umbrella. During minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery, the closed device can be inserted into a small incision and its three arms - each equipped with a camera and a light source - opened once inside the body. The three camera view means a larger viewing field and the ability to reconstruct a 3D scene of the target area.

SickKids’ Centre for Image-Guided Innovation & Therapeutic Intervention (CIGITI) group developed the idea for the endoscope after collaborating with surgeons, engineers and software developers.

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A High-Resolution Endoscope as thin as a Human hair

Engineers at Stanford have developed a prototype single-fiber endoscope that improves the resolution of these much-sought-after instruments fourfold over existing designs. The advance could lead to an era of needle-thin, minimally invasive endoscopes able to view features out of reach of today’s instruments.

Engineers at Stanford have demonstrated a high-resolution endoscope that is as thin as a human hair with a resolution four times better than previous devices of similar design. The so-called micro-endoscope is a significant step forward in high-resolution, minimally invasive bio-imaging with potential applications in research and clinical practice. Micro-endoscopy could enable new methods in diverse fields ranging from study of the brain to early cancer detection.The new endoscope was developed by a team under the direction of Joseph Kahn, professor of electrical engineering at the Stanford School of Engineering. The results were published recently in the journal Optics Express and showcased in the Optical Society of America’s Spotlight on Optics.

Their prototype can resolve objects about 2.5 microns in size, and a resolution of 0.3 microns is easily within reach. A micron is one thousandth of a millimeter. By comparison, today’s high-resolution endoscopes can resolve objects only to about 10 microns. The naked eye can see objects down to about 125 microns.


Complete article here: Stanford Engineering Website

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