Force-detecting gripper and force feedback system for neurosurgery applications

Purpose For the application of less invasive robotic neurosurgery to the resection of deep-seated tumors, a prototype system of a force-detecting gripper with a flexible micromanipulator and force feedback to the operating unit will be developed. Methods Gripping force applied on the gripper is detected by strain gauges attached to the gripper clip. The signal is transmitted to the amplifier by wires running through the inner tube of the manipulator. Proportional force is applied on the finger lever of the operating unit by the surgeon using a bilateral control program. A pulling force experienced by the gripper is also detected at the gripper clip. The signal for the pulling force is transmitted in a manner identical to that mentioned previously, and the proportional torque is applied on the touching roller of the finger lever of the operating unit. The surgeon can feel the gripping force as the resistance of the operating force of the finger and can feel the pulling force as the friction at the finger surface. Results A basic operation test showed that both the gripping force and pulling force were clearly detected in the gripping of soft material and that the operator could feel the gripping force and pulling force at the finger lever of the operating unit. Conclusions A prototype of the force feedback in the microgripping manipulator system has been developed. The system will be useful for removing deep-seated brain tumors in future master-slave-type robotic neurosurgery. © 2013 CARS

Finger-attachment device for the feedback of gripping and pulling force in a manipulating system for brain tumor resection

Purpose: Development and evaluation of an effective attachment device for a bilateral brain tumor resection robotic surgery system based on the sensory performance of the human index finger in order to precisely detect gripping- and pulling-force feedback. Methods: First, a basic test was conducted to investigate the performance of the human index finger in the gripping- and pulling-force feedback system. Based on the test result, a new finger-attachment device was designed and constructed. Then, discrimination tests were conducted to assess the pulling force and the feedback on the hardness of the gripped material. Results: The results of the basic test show the application of pulling force on the side surface of the finger has an advantage to distinguish the pulling force when the gripping force is applied on the finger-touching surface. Based on this result, a finger-attachment device that applies a gripping force on the finger surface and pulling force on the side surface of the finger was developed. By conducting a discrimination test to assess the hardness of the gripped material, an operator can distinguish whether the gripped material is harder or softer than a normal brain tissue. This will help in confirming whether the gripped material is a tumor. By conducting a discrimination test to assess the pulling force, an operator can distinguish the pulling-force resistance when attempting to pull off the soft material. Pulling-force feedback may help avoid the breaking of blood pipes when they are trapped in the gripper or attached to the gripped tissue. Conclusion: The finger-attachment device that was developed for detecting gripping- and pulling-force feedback may play an important role in the development of future neurosurgery robotic systems for precise and safe resection of brain tumors. © 2017 CARSEmbargo Period 12 month

Design of a haptic device for teleoperation and virtual reality systems

IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, SMC 2009; San Antonio, TX; United States; 11 October 2009 through 14 October 2009Haptics technology has increased the precision and telepresence of the teleoperation and precision of the in-house robotic applications by force and surface information feedback. Force feedback is achieved through sending back the pressure and force information via a haptic device as the information is created or measured at the point of interest. In order to configure such a system, design, analysis and production processes of a haptic device, which is suitable for that specific application, becomes important. Today, haptic devices find use in assistive surgical robotics and most of the teleoperation systems. These devices are also extensively utilized in simulators to train medical and military personnel. The objective of this work is to design a haptic device with a new structure that has the potential to increase the precision of the robotic operation. Thus, literature is reviewed and possible robot manipulator designs are investigated to increase the precision in haptics applications. As a result of the investigations, conceptual designs are developed. Ultimately, final design is selected and produced after it is investigated in computer-aided- design (CAD) environment and its kinematic and structural analyses are carried out

A Novel Bio-Inspired Insertion Method for Application to Next Generation Percutaneous Surgical Tools

The use of minimally invasive techniques can dramatically improve patient outcome from neurosurgery, with less risk, faster recovery, and better cost effectiveness when compared to conventional surgical intervention. To achieve this, innovative surgical techniques and new surgical instruments have been developed. Nevertheless, the simplest and most common interventional technique for brain surgery is needle insertion for either diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. The work presented in this thesis shows a new approach to needle insertion into soft tissue, focussing on soft tissue-needle interaction by exploiting microtextured topography and the unique mechanism of a reciprocating motion inspired by the ovipositor of certain parasitic wasps. This thesis starts by developing a brain-like phantom which I was shown to have mechanical properties similar to those of neurological tissue during needle insertion. Secondly, a proof-of-concept of the bio-inspired insertion method was undertaken. Based on this finding, the novel method of a multi-part probe able to penetrate a soft substrate by reciprocal motion of each segment is derived. The advantages of the new insertion method were investigated and compared with a conventional needle insertion in terms of needle-tissue interaction. The soft tissue deformation and damage were also measured by exploiting the method of particle image velocimetry. Finally, the thesis proposes the possible clinical application of a biologically-inspired surface topography for deep brain electrode implantation. As an adjunct to this work, the reciprocal insertion method described here fuelled the research into a novel flexible soft tissue probe for percutaneous intervention, which is able to steer along curvilinear trajectories within a compliant medium. Aspects of this multi-disciplinary research effort on steerable robotic surgery are presented, followed by a discussion of the implications of these findings within the context of future work

fMRI-compatible rehabilitation hand device

BACKGROUND: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been widely used in studying human brain functions and neurorehabilitation. In order to develop complex and well-controlled fMRI paradigms, interfaces that can precisely control and measure output force and kinematics of the movements in human subjects are needed. Optimized state-of-the-art fMRI methods, combined with magnetic resonance (MR) compatible robotic devices for rehabilitation, can assist therapists to quantify, monitor, and improve physical rehabilitation. To achieve this goal, robotic or mechatronic devices with actuators and sensors need to be introduced into an MR environment. The common standard mechanical parts can not be used in MR environment and MR compatibility has been a tough hurdle for device developers. METHODS: This paper presents the design, fabrication and preliminary testing of a novel, one degree of freedom, MR compatible, computer controlled, variable resistance hand device that may be used in brain MR imaging during hand grip rehabilitation. We named the device MR_CHIROD (Magnetic Resonance Compatible Smart Hand Interfaced Rehabilitation Device). A novel feature of the device is the use of Electro-Rheological Fluids (ERFs) to achieve tunable and controllable resistive force generation. ERFs are fluids that experience dramatic changes in rheological properties, such as viscosity or yield stress, in the presence of an electric field. The device consists of four major subsystems: a) an ERF based resistive element; b) a gearbox; c) two handles and d) two sensors, one optical encoder and one force sensor, to measure the patient induced motion and force. The smart hand device is designed to resist up to 50% of the maximum level of gripping force of a human hand and be controlled in real time. RESULTS: Laboratory tests of the device indicate that it was able to meet its design objective to resist up to approximately 50% of the maximum handgrip force. The detailed compatibility tests demonstrated that there is neither an effect from the MR environment on the ERF properties and performance of the sensors, nor significant degradation on MR images by the introduction of the MR_CHIROD in the MR scanner. CONCLUSION: The MR compatible hand device was built to aid in the study of brain function during generation of controllable and tunable force during handgrip exercising. The device was shown to be MR compatible. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first system that utilizes ERF in MR environment

Learning to Control a Brain–Machine Interface for Reaching and Grasping by Primates

Reaching and grasping in primates depend on the coordination of neural activity in large frontoparietal ensembles. Here we demonstrate that primates can learn to reach and grasp virtual objects by controlling a robot arm through a closed-loop brain–machine interface (BMIc) that uses multiple mathematical models to extract several motor parameters (i.e., hand position, velocity, gripping force, and the EMGs of multiple arm muscles) from the electrical activity of frontoparietal neuronal ensembles. As single neurons typically contribute to the encoding of several motor parameters, we observed that high BMIc accuracy required recording from large neuronal ensembles. Continuous BMIc operation by monkeys led to significant improvements in both model predictions and behavioral performance. Using visual feedback, monkeys succeeded in producing robot reach-and-grasp movements even when their arms did not move. Learning to operate the BMIc was paralleled by functional reorganization in multiple cortical areas, suggesting that the dynamic properties of the BMIc were incorporated into motor and sensory cortical representations

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Two Types of Single Port Minimal Invasive Neurosurgical Robots to Ablation and Resection of Brain Tumor

Background: Using minimally invasive neurosurgical robots is one of the most desirable ablation methods and resection of brain tumors. In this study, forward kinematics and Jacobian matrix calculated for two single-port robots for comparing the effectiveness of two types of single port minimal invasive surgical robots to ablation and resection of brain tumorMethods: The motion analysis of robots type 1 and 2 has compared to each other. Ablation manipulator in robot type 1 has five degrees of freedom, but in robot type 2, three revolute degrees of freedom of this manipulator has replaced with a revolute joint perpendicular to the previous three revolute joints.Results: Results showed that for resection surgery, in the same conditions, robot type 2 damaged 58.9 mm3 more of cerebral cortex tissue than robot type 1 to resect the brain tumors. To establish a static balance, robot type 2 needs to tolerate at least 41% more internal loading than robot type 1. The maximum velocity for robot type 1 in the contact location between the end-effector and the tumor is 1.7 times more than robot type 2. The maximum end-effector force of robot type 1 to apply the tumor for ablation surgery is more than 1.8 times in robot type 2, but the maximum moment and power for ablation surgery and resection of these two robots were the same less than 1% difference.Conclusion: Despite the more straightforward mechanism, a minimum number of joints, and better kinematics range of robot type 2, robot types 1 has the possibility for transformation, establishes the static balancing, and does a better ablation surgery with less damage to the brain

CAPACITIVE BASED CMOS-MEMS MICROACTUATOR FOR BIOMEDICAL APPLICATION

The purpose of this project is to design electrostatic microacluator for biomedical application using CMOS and MEMS. The technology of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) is widely used in many daily applications such as aerospace Microsystems, biomedical applications, consumer electronic devices and so on. Specifically in biomedical applications, the experimentation always related to a macro meter objects manipulation. Due to that constraint, the tools that being used are also in macro meter-sized. Therefore, basically this project implements a micro actuator with an integrated capacitive force sensor which can be used in biomedical applications in handling cells and micron-size objects. An actuator for macro-size objects is already in market and it is not suitable to be used to the small cells like micron-cells. In my research, I had determined that there are several actuation principles of different types of gripper which are eleclmstatic, electromagnetic, electro thermal and electro osmotic. The problem where the procedure of handling the active cells must be taken seriously now can be solved with the invention of the grippers. Tn order to design the structure of this device, certain requirements should be taken into considerations. This project will improve the design for microactuator by applying electrostatic principles. The device then simulated in fvlATLAB to find other parameters needed for the microgripper. The performance of this device will be determined by its sensitivity for gripping the Hela cells. The device can be operated with 58V of actuator voltage supply and produced 9.9238 J.lN to have displacement of 1 J.lm. The results show that the device can be used with low voltage and able to be used for cell manipulations