The VN project: endoscopic image processing for neurosurgery.

We developed a navigation support system for endoscopic interventions that allows three-dimensional (3-D) information to be extracted from endoscopic video data and superimposed onto such live video sequences. The endoscope is coupled to a position measurement system and a video camera as components of a calibrated system. In this article we show that the radial distortions of the wide-angle endoscopic lens system can be successfully corrected and an overall accuracy of about 0.7 mm is achievable. Tracking on live endoscopic video sequences allows accurate 3-D depth data to be obtained from multiple camera views.