Computer Vision News - January 2023

28 Best Paper from the University of Leeds that navigates autonomously between two given points , ” Giovanni tells us. “ It’s made of silicone, which is as soft as rubber, if not softer. As it navigates, it won’t cause pain or create disruption, and it doesn’t deflect the anatomy, which is generally more rigid than the catheter. We can navigate in a smoother, less invasive, and more accurate way because we can trust the preoperative image more than if we were using a rigid tool. ” Using magnetics in bronchoscopy is not a newconcept. Five years ago, whenGiovanni started his PhD, magnetic catheters were predominantly made of a soft tube with a magnet at the tip. Similar platforms are used for colonoscopy, in which Giovanni’s PI for this research, Pietro Vadastri , does impressive work. You can use an external magnet to pull the endoscope from the tip instead of pushing from the rear as you Lung cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, and bronchoscopy is currently the state-of-the-art clinical practice for its diagnosis and treatment. Once a surgeon has identified a mass inside the lung, they attempt to reach the target in a minimally invasive way, using CT scans of the lungs to extract a preoperativemap of the bronchial anatomy to aid navigation. The surgeon uses a bronchoscope with a camera to reach a certain level inside the lung before a smaller, semi-rigid catheter inserted into its tool channel takes over and navigates to the target. However, the rigidity of these tools creates several problems, including causing the anatomy to move and the clinician to lose track of where they are. “ We have used a preoperative image to design a magnetically actuated catheter Giovanni Pittiglio has recently completed his PhD and is a Research Fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital. He speaks to us about his work designing catheters for electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy, which has just won the Carter Prize for Best Paper from the University of Leeds. PATIENT-SPECIFIC MAGNETIC CATHETERS FOR ATRAUMATIC AUTONOMOUS ENDOSCOPY BEST PAPER UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS