Modular design of a miniaturized surgical robot system

Area of Science:

• Surgical Robotics
• Medical Engineering
• Orthopedic Surgery

Background:

• Limited adoption of current surgical robotic systems due to high costs and specificity.
• Existing robotic systems often use modified industrial robots with significant limitations.
• Specialized kinematic solutions are application-specific and costly.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a modular mini-robot system adaptable to diverse surgical needs.
• To address the high acquisition and operating costs hindering clinical application of surgical robots.
• To create a standardized requirement profile for surgical robotic systems.

Main Methods:

• Categorizing and clustering application requirements into a standardized profile.
• Designing a modular robot utilizing a hybrid kinematic module structure.
• Implementing and testing the modular robot concept in in vitro studies for orthopedic procedures.

Main Results:

• Successful in vitro implementation for revision total hip replacement and unicondylar knee arthroplasty.
• User-oriented tests demonstrated feasible intraoperative handling.
• Accuracy tests confirmed the system's precision for surgical applications.

Conclusions:

• The proposed modular mini-robot system is a feasible and adaptable solution for surgical applications.
• This approach can potentially lower costs and increase the clinical adoption of robotic surgery.
• The system's modularity and hybrid kinematic design show promise for various orthopedic procedures.