Laparoscopic Camera Based on an Orthogonal Magnet Arrangement

In this letter, we present for the first time a magnetic anchoring-actuation link with an auto-flip feature. This orthogonal magnetic arrangement relies on the placement of two permanent magnets such that their magnetic moments are respectfully orthogonal. Though the arrangement may have many applications, in this study we integrate it in a small factor magnetic camera for minimally invasive procedures. Upon insertion through a trocar incision, the 5.5 mm diameter and 35 mm length magnetic camera is coupled with an external robotic controller and displaced from the port thus preventing clutter of the surgical workspace. The device allows for manual lateral translation as well as robotically controlled tilt and pan, resulting in four degrees of freedom. The auto-flip feature prevents the need for image adjustment in software as the camera tilts through its hemispherical workspace. A static model that relates an input external control tilt and output camera tilt has been developed and validated. Favorable results during bench and canine cadaver evaluation suggest promise for the proposed magnetic camera to improve the state of art in minimally invasive surgical procedures

Development of A Soft Robotic Approach for An Intra-abdominal Wireless Laparoscopic Camera

In Single-Incision Laparoscopic Surgery (SILS), the Magnetic Anchoring and Guidance System (MAGS) arises as a promising technique to provide larger workspaces and field of vision for the laparoscopes, relief space for other instruments, and require fewer incisions. Inspired by MAGS, many concept designs related to fully insertable magnetically driven laparoscopes are developed and tested on the transabdominal operation. However, ignoring the tissue interaction and insertion procedure, most of the designs adopt rigid structures, which not only damage the patients\u27 tissue with excess stress concentration and sliding motion but also require complicated operation for the insertion. Meanwhile, lacking state tracking of the insertable camera including pose and contact force, the camera systems operate in open-loop control. This provides mediocre locomotion precision and limited robustness to uncertainties in the environment. This dissertation proposes, develops, and validates a soft robotic approach for an intra-abdominal wireless laparoscopic camera. Contributions presented in this work include (1) feasibility of a soft intra-abdominal laparoscopic camera with friendly tissue interaction and convenient insertion, (2) six degrees of freedom (DOF) real-time localization, (3) Closed-loop control for a robotic-assisted laparoscopic system and (4) untethering solution for wireless communication and high-quality video transmission. Embedding magnet pairs into the camera and external actuator, the camera can be steered and anchored along the abdominal wall through transabdominal magnetic coupling. To avoid the tissue rapture by the sliding motion and dry friction, a wheel structure is applied to achieve rolling motion. Borrowing the ideas from soft robotic research, the main body of the camera implements silicone material, which grants it the bendability to passively attach along the curved abdominal wall and the deformability for easier insertion. The six-DOF pose is estimated in real-time with internal multi-sensor fusion and Newton-Raphson iteration. Combining the pose tracking and force-torque sensor measurement, an interaction model between the deformable camera and tissue is established to evaluate the interaction force over the tissue surface. Moreover, the proposed laparoscopic system is integrated with a multi-DOF manipulator into a robotic-assisted surgical system, where a closed-loop control is realized based on a feedback controller and online optimization. Finally, the wireless control and video streaming are accomplished with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Analog Video (AV) transmission. Experimental assessments have been implemented to evaluate the performance of the laparoscopic system

Smart Camera Robotic Assistant for Laparoscopic Surgery

The cognitive architecture also includes learning mechanisms to adapt the behavior of the robot to the different ways of working of surgeons, and to improve the robot behavior through experience, in a similar way as a human assistant would do. The theoretical concepts of this dissertation have been validated both through in-vitro experimentation in the labs of medical robotics of the University of Malaga and through in-vivo experimentation with pigs in the IACE Center (Instituto Andaluz de Cirugía Experimental), performed by expert surgeons.In the last decades, laparoscopic surgery has become a daily practice in operating rooms worldwide, which evolution is tending towards less invasive techniques. In this scenario, robotics has found a wide field of application, from slave robotic systems that replicate the movements of the surgeon to autonomous robots able to assist the surgeon in certain maneuvers or to perform autonomous surgical tasks. However, these systems require the direct supervision of the surgeon, and its capacity of making decisions and adapting to dynamic environments is very limited. This PhD dissertation presents the design and implementation of a smart camera robotic assistant to collaborate with the surgeon in a real surgical environment. First, it presents the design of a novel camera robotic assistant able to augment the capacities of current vision systems. This robotic assistant is based on an intra-abdominal camera robot, which is completely inserted into the patient’s abdomen and it can be freely moved along the abdominal cavity by means of magnetic interaction with an external magnet. To provide the camera with the autonomy of motion, the external magnet is coupled to the end effector of a robotic arm, which controls the shift of the camera robot along the abdominal wall. This way, the robotic assistant proposed in this dissertation has six degrees of freedom, which allow providing a wider field of view compared to the traditional vision systems, and also to have different perspectives of the operating area. On the other hand, the intelligence of the system is based on a cognitive architecture specially designed for autonomous collaboration with the surgeon in real surgical environments. The proposed architecture simulates the behavior of a human assistant, with a natural and intuitive human-robot interface for the communication between the robot and the surgeon

sCAM: An Untethered Insertable Laparoscopic Surgical Camera Robot

Fully insertable robotic imaging devices represent a promising future of minimally invasive laparoscopic vision. Emerging research efforts in this field have resulted in several proof-of-concept prototypes. One common drawback of these designs derives from their clumsy tethering wires which not only cause operational interference but also reduce camera mobility. Meanwhile, these insertable laparoscopic cameras are manipulated without any pose information or haptic feedback, which results in open loop motion control and raises concerns about surgical safety caused by inappropriate use of force.This dissertation proposes, implements, and validates an untethered insertable laparoscopic surgical camera (sCAM) robot. Contributions presented in this work include: (1) feasibility of an untethered fully insertable laparoscopic surgical camera, (2) camera-tissue interaction characterization and force sensing, (3) pose estimation, visualization, and feedback with sCAM, and (4) robotic-assisted closed-loop laparoscopic camera control. Borrowing the principle of spherical motors, camera anchoring and actuation are achieved through transabdominal magnetic coupling in a stator-rotor manner. To avoid the tethering wires, laparoscopic vision and control communication are realized with dedicated wireless links based on onboard power. A non-invasive indirect approach is proposed to provide real-time camera-tissue interaction force measurement, which, assisted by camera-tissue interaction modeling, predicts stress distribution over the tissue surface. Meanwhile, the camera pose is remotely estimated and visualized using complementary filtering based on onboard motion sensing. Facilitated by the force measurement and pose estimation, robotic-assisted closed-loop control has been realized in a double-loop control scheme with shared autonomy between surgeons and the robotic controller.The sCAM has brought robotic laparoscopic imaging one step further toward less invasiveness and more dexterity. Initial ex vivo test results have verified functions of the implemented sCAM design and the proposed force measurement and pose estimation approaches, demonstrating the technical feasibility of a tetherless insertable laparoscopic camera. Robotic-assisted control has shown its potential to free surgeons from low-level intricate camera manipulation workload and improve precision and intuitiveness in laparoscopic imaging

Development of An In Vivo Robotic Camera for Dexterous Manipulation and Clear Imaging

Minimally invasive surgeriy (MIS) techniques are becoming more popular as replacements for traditional open surgeries. These methods benefit patients with lowering blood loss and post-operative pain, reducing recovery period and hospital stay time, decreasing surgical area scarring and cosmetic issues, and lessening the treatment costs, hence greater patient satisfaction would be earned. Manipulating surgical instruments from outside of abdomen and performing surgery needs precise hand-eye coordination which is provided by insertable cameras. The traditional MIS insertable cameras suffer from port complexity and reduced manipulation dexterity, which leads to defection in Hand-eye coordination and surgical flow. Fully insertable robotic camera systems emerged as a promising solution in MIS. Implementing robotic camera systems faces multiple challenges in fixation, manipulation, orientation control, tool-tissue interaction, in vivo illumination and clear imaging.In this dissertation a novel actuation and control mechanism is developed and validated for an insertable laparoscopic camera. This design uses permanent magnets and coils as force/torque generators in an external control unit to manipulate an in vivo camera capsule. The motorless design of this capsule reduces the, wight, size and power consumption of the driven unit. In order to guarantee the smooth motion of the camera inside the abdominal cavity, an interaction force control method was proposed and validated.Optimizing the system\u27s design, through minimizing the control unit size and power consumption and extending maneuverability of insertable camera, was achieved by a novel transformable design, which uses a single permanent magnet in the control unit. The camera robot uses a permanent magnet as fixation and translation unit, and two embedded motor for tilt motion actuation, as well as illumination actuation. Transformable design provides superior imaging quality through an optimized illumination unit and a cleaning module. The illumination module uses freeform optical lenses to control light beams from the LEDs to achieve optimized illumination over surgical zone. The cleaning module prevents lens contamination through a pump actuated debris prevention system, while mechanically wipes the lens in case of contamination. The performance of transformable design and its modules have been assessed experimentally

Tissue manipulation using nano-particles ferrofluids for minimal access surgical applications

Nano-scale Iron-Oxide ferrofluids exhibit a special property, ‘superparamagnetism’, that induces an attractive force toward an external magnetic field. The aim of this project is to investigate the use of ferrofluids for tissue retraction during Minimally Access Surgery (MAS). In the in-vivo porcine experiments, 0.3 ml of ferrofluid (200 mg/ml concentration) containing 10 nm particles is injected subserosally into the small bowel, respectively. A 0.6 T magnetic field is created using a combination of 10 mm and 20 mm diameter Neodymium Iron Boron magnets. The vertical retraction distance is measured up to 80 mm and video-recorded. The results demonstrate the capacity of ferrofluid to facilitate the tissue manipulation and analysis of the migration of the particles within the tissue using micro computed tomography (CT). A theoretical model developed to validate the experimental results is also beneficial for predicting retraction force. In conclusion, this feasibility study provides a protocol for systematically using small volumes of ferrofluid, without the need to mechanically grasp the tissue