Intraoperative ultrasound guidance for transanal endoscopic microsurgery.

Local excision of rectal cancer with transanal endoscopic microsurgery has proved to be a viable alternative to conventional, more radical techniques, but the reduced sensory experience presents significant challenges for the surgeon. Accurate identification and complete removal of lesions and subsurface targets is currently a difficult task, often exacerbated by intraoperative tissue deformation. This work describes novel ultrasound calibration and effective visualisation methods designed to meet these requirements, relying solely on optical measurements and pattern tracking. Detailed quantitative phantom and porcine validation experiments confirm that the technique is both practical and an accurate means for assessing lesion thickness intraoperatively, leading directly to human clinical trials.