  Reliable and real-time 3D reconstruction and localization functionality is a
crucial prerequisite for the navigation of actively controlled capsule
endoscopic robots as an emerging, minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic
technology for use in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In this study, we
propose a fully dense, non-rigidly deformable, strictly real-time,
intraoperative map fusion approach for actively controlled endoscopic capsule
robot applications which combines magnetic and vision-based localization, with
non-rigid deformations based frame-to-model map fusion. The performance of the
proposed method is demonstrated using four different ex-vivo porcine stomach
models. Across different trajectories of varying speed and complexity, and four
different endoscopic cameras, the root mean square surface reconstruction
errors 1.58 to 2.17 cm.
