Determining the shift of a bronchoscope catheter from the analysis of a video sequence of a bronchoscope video camera

In this study we have proposed an algorithm for automated monitoring of the movements of a catheter used in peripheral bronchoscopy examination. We have shown that the shift of the catheter can be controlled in an automated way with quite a good accuracy by the means of analysis of video sequence recorded by a video camera of a bronchoscope. For a catheter moving between successive frames by no more than 1/3 of the distance between successive markers associated with a catheter the accuracy of a catheter shift measurement was equal to 1% and for a catheter moving between successive frames by no more than 1/2 of the distance between successive markers associated with a catheter the accuracy of a catheter shift measurement was equal to 5%. Visual inspection proved that the observed measurement errors were associated with faster movements of a catheter. Bronchoscope redesign option is proposed to improve catheter shift measurement accuracy. The results of this study demonstrate that application of image analysis techniques to data recorded during bronchoscopy examination can at least support the existing navigation methods for peripheral bronchoscopy with respect to the determination of the location of the catheter distal tip within the lumen of the pulmonary airways.