Fast vision-based catheter 3D reconstruction.

Continuum robots offer better maneuverability and inherent compliance and are well-suited for surgical applications as catheters, where gentle interaction with the environment is desired. However, sensing their shape and tip position is a challenge as traditional sensors can not be employed in the way they are in rigid robotic manipulators. In this paper, a high speed vision-based shape sensing algorithm for real-time 3D reconstruction of continuum robots based on the views of two arbitrary positioned cameras is presented.