Pneumatically driven surgical instrument capable of estimating translational force and grasping force

Area of Science:

• Robotics
• Surgical Technology
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RAMIS) benefits from force feedback for precise manipulation.
• Sensing both translational and grasping forces in a single instrument is challenging, especially without electronic sensors.
• Existing instruments often lack integrated force sensing capabilities for both translational and grasping actions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel pneumatically driven surgical instrument capable of estimating both translational and grasping forces.
• To address the limitations of current instruments in providing comprehensive force feedback during robotic surgery.

Main Methods:

• Development of a pneumatically driven instrument utilizing a joint mechanism with disks and a flexible backbone.
• Implementation of a force estimation method based on instrument dynamics and pneumatic pressure changes.
• Construction of pneumatic driving systems, kinematic and dynamic models, a controller, and a force estimator.

Main Results:

• Experimental validation demonstrated accurate estimation of both translational and grasping forces.
• The mean absolute error between measured and estimated forces was 0.2 N or less across all tested conditions.
• Negligible mechanical interference was observed between the joint actuation and grasper actuation mechanisms.

Conclusions:

• A novel method for simultaneously estimating translational and grasping forces in a surgical instrument was successfully developed.
• Experimental findings confirm the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed force estimation technique.
• The developed instrument shows promise for enhancing force feedback in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery.