Workspace and pivot point for robot-assisted endoscope guidance in functional endonasal sinus surgery (FESS)

BACKGROUND: For the further development of robot-assisted endoscope guidance in functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS), ground data about the workspaces and endoscope movements in conventional FESS are needed. METHODS: Applying a self-developed marker-based tracking system, we collected the pose data (position and orientation) of the endoscope and all other instruments used in five real sinus surgeries. RESULTS: The automated segmentation of the endoscope poses shows the shape of a hourglass, with a pivot region or pivot point at the 'waistline' of the hourglass, close to the nasal entrance in the nasal dome. CONCLUSION: We were able to identify a pivot point at the waistline of the segmented endoscope poses. The size of the pivot point corresponds with the diameter of the 4 mm endoscope. Because of the reduction to four degrees of freedom for endoscope motions (three rotations and one translation), easier and safer robot-assisted endoscope guidance becomes feasible.