Localizing instrument parts in video-assisted surgeries is an attractive and open computer vision problem. A working algorithm would immediately find applications in computer-aided interventions in the operating theater. Knowing the location of tool parts could help virtually augment visual faculty of surgeons, assess skills of novice surgeons, and increase autonomy of surgical robots. A surgical tool varies in appearance due to...

In visual tracking of surgical instruments, correlation filtering finds the best candidate with maximal correlation peak. However, most trackers only consider capturing target appearance but not target structure. In this paper we propose surgical instrument tracking approach that integrates prior knowledge related to rotation of both shaft and tool tips. To this end, we employ rigid parts mixtures model of an instrument. The rigidly...