Robin Heart 2003--present state of the Polish telemanipulator project for cardiac surgery assistance

The Polish telemanipulator (Robin Heart), for use in cardiac surgery, has been realized by the Foundation of Cardiac Surgery Development in Zabrze, Poland, in cooperation with specialists from the Technical University of Lodz and Warsaw University of Technology. The brief history of robotic surgery and fundamental advantages of employing robots in this field--safe, reliable and repeatable operative results with less patient pain, trauma and recovery time--follow the assumptions of the Polish Cardio-Robot project. The cardiac surgery robot, Robin Heart, is an original construction with a segment type structure which allows the various combination of its parts for different types of surgery. The telemanipulator for cardiac surgery will consist of two arms equipped with tools and one arm holding the camera. Several models suitable for surgeon contact systems, using the experience of centers designing the artificial hand and haptic systems have been worked out. The detailed mechanical analysis and original construction of main parts of the robot and development of the surgical planning system are presented in further sections.