Automatic Robotic-Assisted Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy Scanning System

Abstract: Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS) is a well-established optical technique for tissue composition assessment which has been clinically evaluated for tumour detection to ensure the complete removal of cancerous tissue. While point-wise assessment has many potential applications, incorporating automated large-area scanning would enable holistic tissue sampling with higher consistency. We propose a robotic system to facilitate autonomous DRS scanning with hybrid visual servoing control. A specially designed height compensation module enables precise contact condition control. The evaluation results show that the system can accurately execute the scanning command and acquire consistent DRS spectra with comparable results to the manual collection, which is the current gold standard protocol. Integrating the proposed system into surgery lays the groundwork for autonomous intra-operative DRS tissue assessment with high reliability and repeatability. This could reduce the need for manual scanning by the surgeon while ensuring complete tumor removal in clinical practice.