Recent stMany cardiac interventional procedures (e.g., radiofrequency ablation) require uoroscopy to navigate cathetersin veins toward the heart. However, this image guidance method lacks depth information and increases the risksof radiation exposure for both patients and operators. To overcome these challenges, we developed a roboticvisual servoing system that maintains visualization of segmented photoacoustic signals from a cardiac cathetertip. This system was tested in two in vivo swine cardiac catheterization procedures with ground truth positioninformation provided by uoroscopy and an electroanatomical mapping system. The 1D root mean square localizationerrors within the vein ranged 1:63-2:28 mm for the first experiment and 0:25-1:18 mm for the secondexperiment. The 3D root mean square localization error for the second experiment ranged 1:24 - 1:54 mm.The mean contrast of photoacoustic signals from the catheter tip ranged 29:8 - 48:8 dB when the catheter tipwas visualized in the heart. Results indicate that robotic-photoacoustic imaging has promising potential as analternative to uoroscopic guidance in cardiac catheter interventions. This alternative is advantageous becauseit does not require the use of ionizing radiation, it provides depth information for cardiac interventions, and itenables enhanced visualization of the catheter tips within veins and within the beating heart.
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