Identification of Soft Tissue Elasticity and Topology using Optical Flow

01.07.2025, Abschlussarbeiten, Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten

In surgical robotics, knowledge of mechanical constraints is crucial for manipulating soft tissue, in order to prevent tissue damage and reducing patient risk.
For this reason, this project aims at identifying tissue elasticity and connectivity by evaluating the effect of previous tissue manipulation actions by analyzing in-video tissue movement through Optical Flow and extracting the information to gain fine-grained knowledge of the topology and connectivity in the complex scene of real-world laparoscopic surgeries.
As a student, you will develop a method for characterizing soft tissue based on its experienced movement during manipulation, and annotate a dataset for evaluation of your method's performance.

The project is closely coupled to a robotic project for soft tissue manipulation in the operating room and will play an integral part in its motion planning.

The project takes place at the MITI research group. (https://www.pm.mh.tum.de/miti/startseite/)

Kontakt: dennis.schneider@tum.de