Virtual Palpation: A Novel Method to Identify the Physical Properties of Tissue for Laser Surgery

Overview & Synopsis

This paper presents experimental evidence on ex-vivo tissue demonstrating the ability to identify the thermal and optical properties of the tissue from the observed thermal response to laser irradiation. By probing the tissue with low-intensity laser pulses (a method we refer to as ‘Virtual Palpation), the system estimates the tissue’s unknown physical properties. These properties can then be used in laser-tissue interaction models to monitor and control the interactions between the laser and the surgical site to ensure the procedure achieves the desired effects. In this study, we perform the estimation using an Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) on data generated by irradiating ex-vivo chicken muscle. The estimated properties were subsequently used to simulate the temperature dynamics, achieving an RMSE < 2.0 °C across all trials.