Optoelectronic Navigation System for a Flexible Surgical Instrument Based on Inertial Microelectromechanical Sensors

A design is proposed for an optoelectronic system used to determine the position of a flexible surgical (endoscopic) instrument in three-dimensional space, based on a set of inertial microelectromechanical sensors. A way of calibrating the sensors based on the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm is proposed, and experimental results from calibrating and measuring parameters of the movement of a surgical instrument are presented. A procedure for matching the coordinate systems of the instrument, patient, and imaging system is described.