212,751 research outputs found
Automated pick-up of suturing needles for robotic surgical assistance
Robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy (RALP) is a treatment for prostate
cancer that involves complete or nerve sparing removal prostate tissue that
contains cancer. After removal the bladder neck is successively sutured
directly with the urethra. The procedure is called urethrovesical anastomosis
and is one of the most dexterity demanding tasks during RALP. Two suturing
instruments and a pair of needles are used in combination to perform a running
stitch during urethrovesical anastomosis. While robotic instruments provide
enhanced dexterity to perform the anastomosis, it is still highly challenging
and difficult to learn. In this paper, we presents a vision-guided needle
grasping method for automatically grasping the needle that has been inserted
into the patient prior to anastomosis. We aim to automatically grasp the
suturing needle in a position that avoids hand-offs and immediately enables the
start of suturing. The full grasping process can be broken down into: a needle
detection algorithm; an approach phase where the surgical tool moves closer to
the needle based on visual feedback; and a grasping phase through path planning
based on observed surgical practice. Our experimental results show examples of
successful autonomous grasping that has the potential to simplify and decrease
the operational time in RALP by assisting a small component of urethrovesical
anastomosis
Planning and Real Time Control of a Minimally Invasive Robotic Surgery System
This paper introduces the planning and control software of a teleoperating robotic system for minimally invasive surgery. It addresses the problem of how to organize a complex system with 41 degrees of freedom including robot setup planning, force feedback control and nullspace handling with three robotic arms. The planning software is separated into sequentially executed planning and registration procedures. An optimal setup is first planned in virtual reality and then adapted to variations in the operating room. The real time control system is composed of hierarchical layers. The design is flexible and expandable without losing performance. Structure, functionality and implementation of planning and control are described. The robotic system provides the surgeon with an intuitive hand-eye-coordination and force feedback in teleoperation for both hands
Computer-aided position planning of miniplates to treat facial bone defects
In this contribution, a software system for computer-aided position planning
of miniplates to treat facial bone defects is proposed. The intra-operatively
used bone plates have to be passively adapted on the underlying bone contours
for adequate bone fragment stabilization. However, this procedure can lead to
frequent intra-operatively performed material readjustments especially in
complex surgical cases. Our approach is able to fit a selection of common
implant models on the surgeon's desired position in a 3D computer model. This
happens with respect to the surrounding anatomical structures, always including
the possibility of adjusting both the direction and the position of the used
osteosynthesis material. By using the proposed software, surgeons are able to
pre-plan the out coming implant in its form and morphology with the aid of a
computer-visualized model within a few minutes. Further, the resulting model
can be stored in STL file format, the commonly used format for 3D printing.
Using this technology, surgeons are able to print the virtual generated
implant, or create an individually designed bending tool. This method leads to
adapted osteosynthesis materials according to the surrounding anatomy and
requires further a minimum amount of money and time.Comment: 19 pages, 13 Figures, 2 Table
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