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Updated: Dec 21, 2025
Rod-based Fabrication of Customizable Soft Robotic Pneumatic Gripper Devices for Delicate Tissue Manipulation
Published on: August 2, 2016
An extended algorithm for autonomous grasping of soft tissues during robotic surgery
Golchehr Amirkhani1,2, Farzam Farahmand1,2, Seied Muhammad Yazdian2
1Mechanical Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
Background:
Autonomous grasping of soft tissues can facilitate the robotic surgery procedures. The previous attempts for implementing auto-grasping have been based on a simplistic representation of the actual surgery maneuvers.
Method:
A generalized three-zone grasp model was introduced to consider the effect of the pull force angulation on the grasp mode, that is, damage, slip, or safe grasp. Also, an extended auto-grasping algorithm was proposed in which the trigger force is automatically controlled against the pull force magnitude and direction, to achieve a safe and secure grasp.
Results:
The autonomous grasping experiments against a varying pull force in a phantom study indicated a good agreement between the desired and actual pinch and trigger forces (root mean square errors lower than 0.168 N and 0.280 N, respectively) and no sign of tissue tear or slippage.
Conclusions:
The proposed auto-grasping algorithm can help manipulating the soft tissues safely and effectively during robotic surgery procedures.
