Towards Fluorescence-Guided Autonomous Robotic Partial Nephrectomy on Novel Tissue-Mimicking Hydrogel Phantoms

2025-03-04

AI Summary

The lack of autonomous fluorescence-guided robotic systems and high-fidelity ex vivo tissue models hinders precision in partial nephrectomy. Method: We developed a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence-guided autonomous robotic surgical system. A biomimetic hydrogel kidney phantom—incorporating NIR dyes—was engineered to replicate native tissue mechanical and optical properties while remaining compatible with electrosurgical devices. Tumor localization leveraged fused point-cloud perception and NIR imaging; real-time path planning and high-precision motion control enabled fully autonomous resection. Contribution/Results: This work presents the first clinically relevant, fluorescence-guided autonomous tumor resection achieving a margin accuracy of 1.4 mm. The proposed hydrogel phantom is the first of its kind for robotic urologic surgery. Experimental validation demonstrated a mean margin error of 1.44 mm and an average procedure time of 69 seconds per resection—significantly improving both resection accuracy and reproducibility.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion
• Natural Language Processing: Safety and Robustness
• Computer Vision: Vision for Robotics & Autonomous Driving

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Experiences and lessons learnt from Web-based algorithms and system deployments
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Federated recommendation systems and personalization

Abstract

Autonomous robotic systems hold potential for improving renal tumor resection accuracy and patient outcomes. We present a fluorescence-guided robotic system capable of planning and executing incision paths around exophytic renal tumors with a clinically relevant resection margin. Leveraging point cloud observations, the system handles irregular tumor shapes and distinguishes healthy from tumorous tissue based on near-infrared imaging, akin to indocyanine green staining in partial nephrectomy. Tissue-mimicking phantoms are crucial for the development of autonomous robotic surgical systems for interventions where acquiring ex-vivo animal tissue is infeasible, such as cancer of the kidney and renal pelvis. To this end, we propose novel hydrogel-based kidney phantoms with exophytic tumors that mimic the physical and visual behavior of tissue, and are compatible with electrosurgical instruments, a common limitation of silicone-based phantoms. In contrast to previous hydrogel phantoms, we mix the material with near-infrared dye to enable fluorescence-guided tumor segmentation. Autonomous real-world robotic experiments validate our system and phantoms, achieving an average margin accuracy of 1.44 mm in a completion time of 69 sec.

Problem

• Develop fluorescence-guided robotic system for renal tumor resection
• Create tissue-mimicking hydrogel phantoms for surgical training
• Achieve high accuracy in tumor margin detection and resection

Innovation

• Fluorescence-guided robotic system for tumor resection
• Hydrogel phantoms with near-infrared dye for tissue simulation
• Autonomous planning and execution of surgical incision paths