# Towards Fluorescence-Guided Autonomous Robotic Partial Nephrectomy on Novel Tissue-Mimicking Hydrogel Phantoms

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.02265 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.02265/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 4 Mar 2025.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Occupancy Network-Guided Autonomous Robotic Partial Nephrectomy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.16186/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Autonomous robotic systems hold potential for improving renal tumor resection accuracy and patient outcomes. We present a fluorescence-guided robotic system capable of planning and executing incision paths around exophytic renal tumors with a clinically relevant resection margin. Leveraging point cloud observations, the system handles irregular tumor shapes and distinguishes healthy from tumorous tissue based on near-infrared imaging, akin to indocyanine green staining in partial nephrectomy. Tissue-mimicking phantoms are crucial for the development of autonomous robotic surgical systems for interventions where acquiring ex-vivo animal tissue is infeasible, such as cancer of the kidney and renal pelvis. To this end, we propose novel hydrogel-based kidney phantoms with exophytic tumors that mimic the physical and visual behavior of tissue, and are compatible with electrosurgical instruments, a common limitation of silicone-based phantoms. In contrast to previous hydrogel phantoms, we mix the material with near-infrared dye to enable fluorescence-guided tumor segmentation. Autonomous real-world robotic experiments validate our system and phantoms, achieving an average margin accuracy of 1.44 mm in a completion time of 69 sec.