OpenIGTLink: a network communication interface for closed-loop image-guided interventions

 描述(申请人提供)：我们的最终目标是在图像引导治疗(IGT)的手术室(OR)中提供即插即用的统一实时通信(URTC)网络，其中来自不同供应商的成像仪、传感器、手术机器人和计算机协同工作。URTC将确保这些组件之间的无缝数据流，以实现IGT中计划、控制、交付和反馈的闭环过程。闭环过程使IGT具有互动性和自适应性，因此在配置快速变化时尤其准确。现有的标准中没有一个真正支持ORS中的URTC。我们的OpenIGTLink协议在满足这一未得到满足的需求方面具有得天独厚的优势；由于流行的免费和商业软件包的大力支持，自2008年以来，该协议已被至少在同行评议的出版物中广泛使用。从经皮消融到机器人手术，影像引导是一系列微创介入治疗的基础。它通过将图像信息映射到操作区域，以最小的切口数实现精确的目标定位和监控。影像引导是一个封闭的过程；医生计划如何使用影像接近病变(规划)，手动或使用机器人设备(控制)操纵手术工具到达病变，提供治疗效果(交付)，使用成像和/或传感器(反馈)监测效果，并相应地更新计划。这个闭环过程的周期必须足够短，以跟上手术区域的快速变化，如器官运动引起的目标移位，或热消融过程中的温度变化。使过程成为闭环是一项挑战，特别是当过程涉及来自不同供应商的各种硬件/软件组件时，例如成像仪、手术机器人和导航软件；这些组件在过程中需要实时通信，尽管在IGT中没有适用于闭环过程的URTC标准。由于缺乏标准，供应商只能提供专有的通信接口，不能互操作。OpenIGTLink旨在解决IGT研究领域这一未得到满足的需求。它在研究界得到了很好的接受。然而，目前的OpenIGTLink更多地强调学术研究的简单性，而不是医疗级设备所需的多功能性；因此，OpenIGTLink尚未成为行业可以依赖的事实标准。如果没有业界的支持，OpenIGTLink的价值在某种程度上仍然有限。该项目的目标有两个：改善该协议在实时通信方面的优势，并通过提供与现有医疗记录标准的互操作性来提高OpenIGTLink的通用性。我们将追求以下目标：(目标1)定义OpenIGTLink消息交换方案，用于具有服务质量(Qos)控制的实时通信；(目标2)研究和开发与DICOM标准的互操作性；(目标3)在机器人系统中验证扩展的OpenIGTLink，用于闭环式图像引导的机器人辅助前列腺介入治疗。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our ultimate goal is to provide a plug-and-play unified real-time communication (URTC) network in operating rooms (ORs) for image-guided therapy (IGT), where imagers, sensors, surgical robots, and computers from different vendors work cooperatively. URTC will ensure the seamless data flow among those components to enable the closed-loop process of planning, control, delivery, and feedback in IGT. The closed- loop process makes IGT interactive and adaptive, hence accurate particularly when the configuration is rapidly changing. None of existing standards truly support URTC in ORs. We are uniquely positioned to address this unmet need with our OpenIGTLink protocol; thanks to strong supports by popular free and commercial software packages, it has been used extensively in at least 89 peer-reviewed publications since 2008. Image-guidance is a basis for a wide range of minimally-invasive interventions, from percutaneous ablations to robotic surgeries. It enables accurate targeting and monitoring with minimal incisions by mapping image information onto the operating field. Image-guidance is a closed-loop process; a physician plans how to approach to a lesion using images (planning), maneuvers surgical tools to the lesion by hand or using a robotic device (control), delivers a therapeutic effect (delivery), monitors the effect using imagig and/or sensors (feedback), and update the plan accordingly. A cycle of this closed-loop process must be short enough to keep up with rapid changes in the operating field such as target displacement due to organ motion, or temperature variation during thermal ablations. Making the process closed-loop is a challenge, especially when the process involves various hardware/software components from different vendors such as imagers, surgical robots, and navigation software; those components need to communicate in real-time during the process, though there is no URTC standard suitable for the closed-loop process in IGT. Because of the lack of standard, venders can only provide proprietary communication interfaces, which are not interoperable. OpenIGTLink aims to address this unmet need in the IGT research field. It has been well accepted in the research community. However, the current OpenIGTLink puts more emphasis on the simplicity for academic research rather than the versatility required in medical-grade devices; therefore, OpenIGTLink has yet to be a de facto standard that the industry can rely on. Without the industrial support, the merit of OpenIGTLink remains somewhat limited. The goals of project are twofold: improving the protocol's advantage in real-time communication, and to improve the versatility of OpenIGTLink by providing interoperability with an existing medical record standard. We will pursue the following aims: (Aim 1) Define OpenIGTLink message exchange schemes for real-time communication with quality of service (QoS) control; (Aim 2) Investigate and develop interoperability with the DICOM standard; (Aim 3) Validate extended OpenIGTLink in a robotic system for closed-loop image-guided robot-assisted prostate interventions.