Visual servoing of a robotic endoscope holder based on surgical instrument tracking

We propose an image-based control for a robotic endoscope holder during laparoscopic surgery. Our aim is to provide more comfort to the practitioner during surgery by automatically positioning the endoscope at his request. To do so, we propose to maintain one or more instruments roughly at the center of the laparoscopic image through different command modes. The originality of this method relies on the direct use of the endoscopic image and the absence of artificial markers added to the instruments. The application is validated on a test bench with a commercial robotic endoscope holder.