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Pneumatic-type surgical robot end-effector for laparoscopic surgical-operation-by-wire
Chiwon Lee, Woo Jung Park, Myungjoon Kim
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-799, South Korea. sungwan@snu.ac.kr.
Biomedical Engineering Online
|September 6, 2014
Summary
A novel pneumatic gripping system for robotic minimally invasive surgery (MIS) offers consistent force and near real-time control. This durable system, developed using a surgical-operation-by-wire concept, shows promise for enhanced laparoscopic procedures.
Area of Science:
- Robotics
- Surgical Technology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) offers advantages but faces limitations in current robotic systems, particularly non-uniform gripping force due to mechanical strings.
- A new surgical instrument featuring a pneumatic gripping system has been developed to address these limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To implement a stringless surgical instrument with pneumatic gripping and micro motor-driven joints based on the surgical-operation-by-wire (SOBW) concept.
- To integrate a 6-axis external arm for enhanced degrees of freedom (DOFs) for laparoscopic procedures.
- To evaluate the system's performance, including gripping force, reaction time, and clinical applicability through user experiments.
Main Methods:
- Developed a pneumatic gripping system and pitching/yawing joints using micro motors, eliminating mechanical strings.
- Integrated a 6-axis external arm and utilized LabVIEW® for control.
- Measured gripping force, reaction time, and workspace; conducted peg task and workspace identification experiments with novice volunteers using the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS) board.
- Employed and improved a hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS) controller with an integrated 6-axis force/torque sensor (iHOTAS).
Main Results:
- The pneumatic gripping system achieved a mean gripping force of 5.8 N at 0.3 MPa after 1,000 repetitions.
- Demonstrated near real-time control with a reaction time of 0.4 s.
- Novice volunteers successfully completed the peg task within a mean time of 176 s, with a calculated workspace of 11,157.0 cm³.
Conclusions:
- The proposed pneumatic gripping system provides consistent force, near real-time control, and enhanced durability compared to existing robotic MIS systems.
- The system's workspace is adequate for clinical laparoscopic surgery.
- The developed iHOTAS controller is intended for future application in tactile force feedback systems to ensure surgeon safety.
