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Toward a hybrid snake robot for single-port surgery
1Cardiac Surgery Department, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Boston Va Medical Ctr-W Roxbury, Boston, MA, USA. mahvash@hms.harvard.edu
Summary
A novel snake-like robot combines a concentric tube robot with a robotic probe for minimally invasive surgery, offering enhanced stiffness and dexterity. This hybrid design achieves a critical small radius of curvature, validated by a new mechanical model.
Area of Science:
- Robotics
- Medical Devices
- Surgical Technology
Background:
- Single-port minimally invasive surgery (MIS) requires specialized instruments with high dexterity and control.
- Existing robotic systems often face trade-offs between stiffness and maneuverability.
- Concentric tube robots and articulated robotic probes offer distinct advantages but have limitations when used independently.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel hybrid snake-like robot integrating a concentric tube robot and a robotic probe.
- To achieve simultaneous high tip stiffness and dexterity for single-port MIS applications.
- To develop and validate a mechanical model for predicting the minimum radius of curvature of the hybrid snake robot.
Main Methods:
- The proposed snake robot is constructed by combining a concentric tube robot with a highly articulated robotic probe.
- The robotic probe functions as a protective, stiff shield for the concentric tube robot.
- A mechanical model was developed to calculate the minimum achievable radius of curvature for the hybrid configuration.
Main Results:
- The hybrid snake robot demonstrates the ability to achieve both high tip stiffness and significant dexterity.
- This combination overcomes the limitations of using either the concentric tube robot or the robotic probe individually.
- Experimental validation confirmed the accuracy of the developed mechanical model in predicting the minimum radius of curvature.
Conclusions:
- The hybrid snake-like robot represents a significant advancement for single-port minimally invasive surgery.
- The integration of a robotic probe with a concentric tube robot successfully addresses the challenge of achieving both stiffness and dexterity.
- The validated mechanical model provides a crucial tool for the design and optimization of such hybrid robotic systems.
