2017/11/08 by Yang Hu, Yun Gu, Hu, Yang +5
Computer Science · Engineering · #Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Image and Object Detection Techniques #Medical Image Segmentation Techniques #Soft Robotics and Applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1711.03179
openalex publication_date 2017/11/08 · openalex created_date 2017/11/17 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In robotic surgery, task automation and learning from demonstration combined with human supervision is an emerging trend for many new surgical robot platforms. One such task is automated anastomosis, which requires bimanual needle handling and suture detection. Due to the complexity of the surgical environment and varying patient anatomies, reliable suture detection is difficult, which is further complicated by occlusion and thread topologies. In this paper, we propose a multi-stage framework for suture thread detection based on deep learning. Fully convolutional neural networks are used to obtain the initial detection and the overlapping status of suture thread, which are later fused with the original image to learn a gradient road map of the thread. Based on the gradient road map, multiple segments of the thread are extracted and linked to form the whole thread using a curvilinear structure detector. Experiments on two different types of sutures demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed framework.