Abstract
The goal of this work is to provide a software platform that can seamlessly plug-in and plug-out software and hardware components to prototype robot navigation system with interactive path and motion planning capability. We designed and implemented a plug-in module in MeVisLab that exchanges data with external hardware device(s) over the TCP/IP network using the OpenIGTLink network protocol. This interface allows developers to define a desired workflow and dataflow in sending / receiving a wide variety of messages including commands and feedbacks to / from external hardware using MeVisLab’s graphical programming environment. This information can include real-time communication among robotic devices, intraoperative imaging systems like ultrasound devices and sensor elements. This module interface can easily be used in different research and prototyping works.
Keywords: MeVisLab, OpenIGTLink, robotic devices communication, image guided therapy, surgical navigation