Fiberscopic Pattern Removal for Optimal Coverage in 3D Bladder Reconstructions of Fiberscope Cystoscopy Videos

Abstract

Purpose:In the current clinical standard of care, cystoscopic video is not routinely saved because it is cumbersome to review. Instead, clinicians rely on brief procedure notes and still frames to manage bladder pathology. Preserving discarded data via 3D reconstructions, which are convenient to review, has the potential to improve patient care. However, many clinical videos are collected by fiberscopes, which are lower cost but induce a pattern on frames that inhibits 3D reconstruction. The aim of this study is to remove the honeycomb-like pattern present in fiberscope-based cystoscopy videos to improve the quality of 3D bladder reconstructions.Approach:This study introduces a novel algorithm that applies a notch filtering mask in the Fourier domain to remove the honeycomb-like pattern from clinical cystoscopy videos collected by fiberscope as a preprocessing step to 3D reconstruction. We produce 3D reconstructions with the video before and after removing the pattern, which we compare with a novel metric termed the area of reconstruction coverage (ARC), defined as the surface area (in pixels) of the reconstructed bladder. All statistical analyses use paired t-tests.Results:Preprocessing using our method for pattern removal enabled reconstruction for all (n = 5) cystoscopy videos included in the study and produced a statistically significant increase in bladder coverage (p = 0.018).Conclusions:This algorithm for pattern removal increases bladder coverage in 3D reconstructions and automates mask generation and application, which could aid implementation in time-starved clinical environments. The creation and use of 3D reconstructions can improve documentation of cystoscopic findings for future surgical navigation, thus improving patient treatment and outcomes.

Towards improved 3D reconstruction of cystoscopies through real-time feedback for frame reacquisition

“…The reconstructions were compared in terms of two metrics to assess quality: one to assess bladder coverage and one to assess accuracy. We quantified bladder coverage with a metric called the area of reconstruction coverage (A RC ), which was the number of pixels contained in the resulting 3D reconstruction [ 30 ]. We assessed accuracy with the average reprojection error (RPE), which is commonly used to assess 3D reconstructions.…”