Motion planning for the Virtual Bronchoscopy

Bronchoscopy is an interventional medical procedure employed to analyze the interior side of the human airways, clear possible obstructions and biopsy. Using a 3D reconstruction of the tracheobronchial tree, Virtual Bronchoscopy (VB) may help physicians in the exploration of peripheral lung lesions. We are developing a haptic-based navigation system for the VB that allows the navigation within the airways using a haptic device whose permitted motions mimics those done with the real bronchoscope. This paper describes the motion planning module of the system devoted to plan a path from the trachea to small peripheral pulmonary lesions, that takes into account the geometry and the kinematic constraints of the bronchoscope. The motion planner output is used to visually and haptically guide the navigation during the virtual exploration using the haptic device. Moreover, physicians can get useful information of whether the peripheral lesions can effectively be reached with a given bronchoscope or of which is the nearest point to the lesion that can be reached.