Patent ID: 11896441
Assignee: INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A

Claim 19:
20. The method of claim 18, wherein:
the user-selected 2D endpoint is a pixel block including a first number of rows and a first number of columns; and
the identifying of the matched 2D endpoint includes:
tracking kinematics of at least one of the stereoscopic endoscope located at the surgical area and a robotically-manipulated surgical instrument located at the surgical area;
identifying, within the second image and based on the tracked kinematics, a rectangular area including a plurality of candidate pixel blocks each including the first number of rows and the first number of columns, the rectangular area including a second number of rows greater than the first number of rows and a second number of columns greater than the first number of columns and at least two times greater than the second number of rows;
analyzing, the candidate pixel blocks in the plurality of candidate pixel blocks included within the rectangular area to assign, to each of the candidate pixel blocks, a respective similarity metric with respect to the user-selected 2D endpoint; and
based on the analyzing, identifying as the matched 2D endpoint corresponding to the feature a particular candidate pixel block that is assigned a highest similarity metric of the respective similarity metrics assigned to the analyzed candidate pixel blocks in the plurality of candidate pixel blocks.