Registration, Path Planning and Shape Reconstruction for Soft Tools in Robot‐Assisted Intraluminal Procedures: A Review

ABSTRACT Background Robot and navigation systems can relieve surgeon's difficulties in delicate and safe operation in tortuous lumens in traditional intraluminal procedures (IP). This paper aims to review the three key components of these systems: registration, path planning and shape reconstruction and highlight their limitations and future perspectives. Methods An electronic search for relevant studies was performed in Web of Science and Google scholar databases until 2024. Results As for 2D–3D registration in IP, we focused on analysing feature extraction. For path planning, this paper proposed a new classification method and focused on selection of planning space and the establishment of path cost. Regarding shape reconstruction, the pros and cons of existing methods are analysed and methods based on fibre optic sensors and electromagnetic (EM) tracking are focused on. Conclusion These three technologies in IP have made great progress, but there are still challenges that require further research.