Dynamic Peri-operative Cerenkov Luminescence Imaging for Robotic Assisted Surgery (EDCLIRS)

前列腺癌发生在大约七分之一的男性人口中，并且在大约20%的这些病例中是致命的，是仅次于肺癌的第二种最常见的癌症。手术干预旨在去除足够的恶性组织，而不会留下可能导致复发的残留物。与此同时，新的手术技术正在出现，以尽量减少对健康组织的影响，并保留神经和生活质量。然而，目前，对切除所有癌组织成功与否的评估取决于病理实验室的评估，这意味着手术无法治愈或需要重新审视。因此，至关重要的是开发技术，使外科医生能够在手术过程中做出决定，减少疾病复发的机会。一种公认的癌组织的指示剂是注射放射性标记的示踪剂，其区分恶性肿瘤和正常组织。这种示踪剂可以使用正电子发射断层扫描成像，但这不是一种可以在手术环境中使用的技术。最近已经开发了一种新的方法，其允许使用普通照相机通过利用切伦科夫光的放射性粒子在可见光谱中的发射来对放射性示踪剂成像。这种现象开启了将摄像机放置在内窥镜上并将其与机器人辅助手术的现有方法联合收割机结合的可能性。在这个项目中，我们将继续这一想法，并利用跟踪摄像机和病人的运动的技术，包括他们在光发射和检测的模型，并实现一个实时动态成像系统，帮助外科医生切除所有癌组织，同时保留尽可能多的健康组织。

Prostate cancer occurs in about one in seven of the male population and is fatal in about 20% of those cases, being the second most common cancer after lung cancer. Surgical intervention seeks to remove sufficient malignant tissue without leaving residuals that can lead to recurrence. At the same time new surgical techniques are emerging to minimise the impact on healthy tissue and preserve nerves and the quality of life. However, currently, the assessment of the success in removing all cancerous tissue depends on evaluation in a pathology lab and means that the surgery will not be curative or needs to be revisited. It is therefore crucial to develop technology that can allow the surgeon to make decisions during surgery that can reduce the chances of recurring disease. One well established indicator of cancerous tissue is the injection of a radioactively labelled tracer that differentiates between malignancy and normal tissue. This tracer can be imaged using positron emission tomography, but this is not a technology that can be utilized within a surgical setting. Recently a new methodology has been developed which allows the radioactive tracer to be imaged using ordinary cameras, by exploiting the emission by radioactive particles of Cerenkov light, in the visible spectrum. This phenomenon opens the possibility to place cameras on endoscopes and combine them with existing methods for robotic assisted surgery. In this project, we will pursue this idea, and make use of techniques for tracking movement of the cameras and the patient, including them in a model of light emission and detection, and realizing a real-time dynamic imaging system assisting the surgeon to excise all cancerous tissue while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible.