Magnetic resonance based control of a robotic manipulator for interventions in the beating heart

As a part of an ongoing project, in this paper we introduce the first version of a system which has a novel methodology for Cine (as in cinema) MRI based control of a cardiac robot for beating heart surgeries. The system uses the preoperative planning approach that we developed earlier, and integrates it to the intraoperative algorithms for controlling a robot and tracking some specific landmarks of a highly dynamical surgical field. In particular, our late studies presented herein aim to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating appropriate computational tools to achieve the volumetric image guidance for minimally invasive surgeries in the beating heart. We conceive of the system as practicable for in vitro experiments upon the completion of the first physical prototype, which may pave the way for expansion of the approach for other complex surgeries as well.