Further Comparison of 4 Display Modes for a Multi-Resolution Foveated Laparoscope

Background. To overcome field of view and ergonomic limitations of standard laparoscopes, we are developing a multi-resolution foveated laparoscope (MRFL), which can simultaneously obtain both wide- and zoomed-in-view images. To facilitate the effectiveness of our MRFL, we have been investigating various ways of organizing and visualizing dual-view multi-resolution images acquired by the MRFL. In our prior study, we implemented and compared 6 display modes for the MRFL, assuming a typical clinical environment where a standard (but limited) resolution monitor is available. To take full advantage of our MRFL, displays having sufficient screen resolutions might be advantageous. The present study aims to further understand the effects of view configurations through displays with a standard high-definition (HD) resolution and a 4K resolution. In this study, we compare 3 display modes for limited-resolution displays against a new mode for sufficient-resolution displays. Methods. Twenty subjects performed 3 evaluation trials of a touching task with each display mode in an emulated MRFL environment. Various objective measurements including task completion time and the number of collisions, and subjective preference were recorded. Results. The new mode showed a better task completion time than the other modes, while it maintained a low number of collisions similar to the others. Moreover, the majority of participants selected the new mode as their most preferred one. Conclusions. With a sufficient display resolution, the co-registration between the unblocked and unwarped wide context view and the high-resolution zoomed-in view offered by the new mode was highly effective on both task performance and user preference.