Snake-Like Robots for Minimally Invasive, Single Port, and Intraluminal Surgeries

The surgical paradigm of Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) has been a key driver to the adoption of robotic surgical assistance. Progress in the last three decades has led to a gradual transition from manual laparoscopic surgery with rigid instruments to robot-assisted surgery. In the last decade, the increasing demand for new surgical paradigms to enable access into the anatomy without skin incision (intraluminal surgery) or with a single skin incision (Single Port Access surgery - SPA) has led researchers to investigate snake-like flexible surgical devices. In this chapter, we first present an overview of the background, motivation, and taxonomy of MIS and its newer derivatives. Challenges of MIS and its newer derivatives (SPA and intraluminal surgery) are outlined along with the architectures of new snake-like robots meeting these challenges. We also examine the commercial and research surgical platforms developed over the years, to address the specific functional requirements and constraints imposed by operations in confined spaces. The chapter concludes with an evaluation of open problems in surgical robotics for intraluminal and SPA, and a look at future trends in surgical robot design that could potentially address these unmet needs.Comment: 41 pages, 18 figures. Preprint of article published in the Encyclopedia of Medical Robotics 2018, World Scientific Publishing Company www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/9789813232266_000

Cable-driven parallel mechanisms for minimally invasive robotic surgery

Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has revolutionised surgery by providing faster recovery times, less post-operative complications, improved cosmesis and reduced pain for the patient. Surgical robotics are used to further decrease the invasiveness of procedures, by using yet smaller and fewer incisions or using natural orifices as entry point. However, many robotic systems still suffer from technical challenges such as sufficient instrument dexterity and payloads, leading to limited adoption in clinical practice. Cable-driven parallel mechanisms (CDPMs) have unique properties, which can be used to overcome existing challenges in surgical robotics. These beneficial properties include high end-effector payloads, efficient force transmission and a large configurable instrument workspace. However, the use of CDPMs in MIS is largely unexplored. This research presents the first structured exploration of CDPMs for MIS and demonstrates the potential of this type of mechanism through the development of multiple prototypes: the ESD CYCLOPS, CDAQS, SIMPLE, neuroCYCLOPS and microCYCLOPS. One key challenge for MIS is the access method used to introduce CDPMs into the body. Three different access methods are presented by the prototypes. By focusing on the minimally invasive access method in which CDPMs are introduced into the body, the thesis provides a framework, which can be used by researchers, engineers and clinicians to identify future opportunities of CDPMs in MIS. Additionally, through user studies and pre-clinical studies, these prototypes demonstrate that this type of mechanism has several key advantages for surgical applications in which haptic feedback, safe automation or a high payload are required. These advantages, combined with the different access methods, demonstrate that CDPMs can have a key role in the advancement of MIS technology.Open Acces

Stacked Tensegrity Mechanism for Medical Application

In this article a multi-segmented planar tensegrity mechanism was presented. This mechanism has a three-segment structure with each segment residing on top of another. The size of the segments may decrease proportionally from base to top, resulting in a tapered shape from base to tip like an elephant trunk. The system was mechanically formulated as having linear springs and cables functioning as actuators. The singularities, as well as the stability of the parallel mechanism, were analyzed by using the principle of minimum energy. Optimization was also done to obtain the greatest angular deflection for a segment according to a ratio between the size of the base and the moving platform of the robotic system. The result of this work is a family of mechanisms that can generate the same workspace for different stability properties

Scaling Method of Force Feedback for Laparoscopic Surgical Robot Using Dynamics of Forceps tip

The field of laparoscopic surgery has significantly developed recently due to the development of new techniques as well as the use of various surgical robots. The da Vinci robot developed by Intuitive Surgical Inc. is currently the most advanced surgical robot. This is a master–slave robot with plural robot arms, stereoscopic imaging by the 3D endoscope, and manipulators that imitate the movement of human wrist with sevendegrees of freedom (DOF) by the wire drive. Moreover, in recent years, with the increasing development of laparoscopic surgery, single-port surgery (SPS) has gained significant popularity. This procedure is more cosmetically favorable than the conventional laparoscopic surgery. SPS that was conducted using the da Vinci robot by replacing manipulators with those with the SPS’s capable shape is reported. However, da Vinci robot for SPS is not yet in clinical use. To date, medical accidents have been reported during laparoscopic surgery using the da Vinci robot because the robot is unable to provide force feedback to the surgeons. Force feedback is known to have many benefits such as the improvement of the surgeon’s dexterity and the enhancement of the operability of surgical robots in telesurgery. To solve this issue of the current surgical robots, in this study, a six-axis force and torque sensor produced by ATI Co. is attached on an independently developed SPS forceps manipulator. The sensor detects an external force at the tip or shaft of the forceps manipulator, enabling the realization of force feedback by using haptic function of the Omega 7 master device produced by Force Dimension Co. Moreover, a new scaling method based on the beam theory is proposed to enable the improvement of the performance of the force feedback in various laparoscopic surgical robots beyond the SPS robot. Specifically, the detected force is amplified using the proposed scaling method and the amplified force is realized through the haptic device Omega 7. Experiments were conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed scaling method. The results showed that the operator of the surgical robot can experience a small force that was applied to the forceps more clearly and quickly compared with that realized when the conventional constant scaling method was used.修士(工学)法政大学 (Hosei University

Snake Robots for Surgical Applications: A Review

Although substantial advancements have been achieved in robot-assisted surgery, the blueprint to existing snake robotics predominantly focuses on the preliminary structural design, control, and human–robot interfaces, with features which have not been particularly explored in the literature. This paper aims to conduct a review of planning and operation concepts of hyper-redundant serpentine robots for surgical use, as well as any future challenges and solutions for better manipulation. Current researchers in the field of the manufacture and navigation of snake robots have faced issues, such as a low dexterity of the end-effectors around delicate organs, state estimation and the lack of depth perception on two-dimensional screens. A wide range of robots have been analysed, such as the i2Snake robot, inspiring the use of force and position feedback, visual servoing and augmented reality (AR). We present the types of actuation methods, robot kinematics, dynamics, sensing, and prospects of AR integration in snake robots, whilst addressing their shortcomings to facilitate the surgeon’s task. For a smoother gait control, validation and optimization algorithms such as deep learning databases are examined to mitigate redundancy in module linkage backlash and accidental self-collision. In essence, we aim to provide an outlook on robot configurations during motion by enhancing their material compositions within anatomical biocompatibility standards

SCALING METHOD OF FORCE FEEDBACK FOR LAPAROSCOPIC SURGICAL ROBOT USING DYNAMICS OF FORCEPS TIP

In this study, a new scaling method for force feedback is proposed for the surgical robot developed in our laboratory, incorporating an analysis of the shaft of the forceps based on beam theory. A six-axis force and torque sensor is attached to the base parts of the forceps manipulator of the surgical robot to detect a force which is added at the tip or shaft part of the forceps. Then, the detected force is amplified using the proposed scaling method and the amplified force is realized through the haptic device Omega.7. Experiments were carried out to verify an effectiveness of the proposed scaling method. The results showed that the operator of the surgical robot can sense a small force which was added to the forceps more clearly and quickly compared with that realized when the conventional constant scaling method is used