Intraoperative Optical Imaging with Distance-Aware RGB-Fluorescence Image Registration

The wide adoption of fluorescence imaging in various surgical subspecialties has led to the rapid development of fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) in recent years. Due to the intrinsic nature of Near-Infrared imaging as a functional imaging modality, structural features and details are often degraded or largely lacking in NIR fluorescence images. Accurate and robust registration of color and fluorescence imageries is key for integrated functional/structural surgical guidance. In this study, we have demonstrated the feasibility of dynamic distance-aware RGB-fluorescence image registration across different working distances. Different from conventional feature-based registration methods, our method does not rely on mutual features across different optical imaging modalities. Compared to conventional optics-based methods, the proposed system facilitates wearable imaging systems and handheld imaging applications in surgical settings. We have demonstrated the potential of this method in intraoperative imaging in a biological model.