3D tracking of surgical instruments using a single camera for laparoscopic surgery simulation.

Most laparoscopic surgery simulation systems are expensive and complex. To overcome these problems, this study presents a novel three-dimensional tracking method for laparoscopic surgical instruments that uses only a single camera and fiducial markers. The proposed method does not require any mechanical parts to measure the three-dimensional positions/orientations of surgical instruments and the opening angle of graspers. We implemented simple and cost-effective hardware using the proposed method and successfully combined it with virtual simulation software for laparoscopic surgery.