METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND DEVICES RELATING TO FORCE CONTROL SURGICAL SYSTEMS

The various embodiments herein relate to robotic surgical systems and devices that use force and/or torque sensors to measure forces applied at various components of the system or device. Certain implementations include robotic surgical devices having one or more force/torque sensors that detect or measure one or more forces applied at or on one or more arms. Other embodiments relate to systems having a robotic surgical device that has one or more sensors and an external controller that has one or more motors such that the sensors transmit information that is used at the controller to actuate the motors to provide haptic feedback to a user

Haptic Sensing for Use in Miniature In-Vivo Robotic Grasping Tasks

Surgical procedures have been improved greatly through the use of minimally invasive techniques. These techniques allow the surgeon access to the abdomen of the body without the necessity of a large incision. The same reasons that allow laparoscopic procedures to produce limited scarring and reduced risk of infection hamper the surgeon. Passing long rigid tools through the skin requires advanced training for accurate control of the tools. As found by MacFarlane in An improvement on laparoscopic procedures is the implementation of surgical robots. This route can return the intuitive nature of open surgeries through providing the surgeon direct control over the tool tip, while providing a stable, reliable platform. Through these robots and their respective human interfaces, the potential for passing on haptic information, such as grasping force, can be realized. The user interface component of the system is well understood and accepted, but the initial sensing of the applied force can lead to difficulties. The da Vinci V R S Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Sunnyvale, CA) is the most widely used system in US for gastrointestinal procedures. This robot, even with its success relies on the surgeons experience to control the level of forces applied to the respective tissues. The da Vinci system is very large and has space if force feedback is ever desired, but in miniature surgical robots that are meant for complete insertion into the patient, space is limited. It is the forearm of a robot such as described in There have been efforts to augment the surgeons sense of touch by measuring the forces applied to laparoscopic tools under manual manipulation. The approaches in [3] and [4] have created systems that are capable of measuring the forces either directly, on the grasper itself, as well as indirectly, measured on the handle or drive system. Direct methods of sensing on the graspers can lead to unfamiliar grasper geometries as well as difficulties for sterilization. Indirect measurement is more practical for robotic applications, but due to the necessary space and the desired coupling of tool rotation and actuation, measurement of the drive rod directly can cause the overall forearm size and complexity to grow unacceptably. When a focus on grasping force is taken, Puangmali in [5] discusses several different methods for indirect and direct sensing, including optical-and displacement-based sensing. These methods were considered for their practicality in a miniature system. Indirect measurement of the applied force was chosen for both its potential size as well as its ability to be applied on a coupled drive configuration. In this paper, the initial testing of an in-line, self-contained force-sensing robotic grasper for use on miniature surgical robotic platforms is presented. This grasper has been tested in five different grasping situations, with the corresponding curves presented here as a measure of its effectiveness. Based on the verification presented here, the system will be adapted to a package capable of in vivo testing. Methods A testbed was created, Due to the consistent input conditions on the motor for each test, the measured force on any material results in same maximum force applied. When testing, the crucial component is how the force ramps up from no load to this full load, and the characteristic curves that result. As shown in Results Several grasps were conducted with each of the five end conditions. The measurements were recorded at 50 Hz. Each of the trials for a given condition was adjusted laterally to accommodate different times of contact. Once the matching cases were aligned laterally, each trial for a particular case was averaged. The resulting averages were then filtered using a rolling average that accounts for the previous four readings. The result of this filtering demonstrates distinct trends for each class of material, as shown in The three cases that represent a rigid end condition (empty and thin/thick acrylic) all demonstrate the same steep loading curve a

Design and Assembly of Parabolic Flight Payload to Evaluate Miniature \u3ci\u3ein vivo\u3c/i\u3e Surgical Robots in Microgravity

Laparoscopic surgery, also known as minimally invasive surgery (MIS), changed the face of surgery in the 1990s. With these procedures, surgeons use long, slender tools which pass through several small incisions. Performing surgery in this fashion has shown many benefits including reduced pain and recovery times, lower costs, and less scarring post-recovery. The use of surgical robotics has shown several key advantages over MIS techniques. Minimally invasive surgeries typically require unnatural movements, have limited visibility, greatly reduce dexterity, and provide little tactile feedback. Through robot kinematics and specialized sensors, surgical robots can resolve many of these limitations, especially in terms of creating intuitive controls that can be mastered quickly, without losing many of the benefits of MIS. Because of these properties and their relatively small size, surgical robots could be viable options for use during space flight emergencies. This thesis presents the design and assembly of a parabolic flight payload to evaluate these robots in microgravity where the robot performance and the operator capability is unknown. The structure supports all required hardware and is compliant with all NASA requirements and guidelines for microgravity research. Through future experiments using the payload, completion metrics such as experimental time-to-completion and robot positioning accuracy will be used to define the challenges with working in microgravity as well as propose possible solutions to create a surgical system for space. Advisor: Shane Farrito

METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND DEVICES RELATING TO FORCE CONTROL SURGICAL SYSTEMS

The various embodiments herein relate to robotic surgical systems and devices that use force and/or torque sensors to measure forces applied at various components of the system or device. Certain implementations include robotic surgical devices having one or more force/torque sensors that detect or measure one or more forces applied at or on one or more arms. Other embodiments relate to systems having a robotic surgical device that has one or more sensors and an external controller that has one or more motors such that the sensors transmit information that is used at the controller to actuate the motors to provide haptic feedback to a user