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Design of a Continuum Surgical Robotic System for Bimanual Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection
Haiyan Hu1, Heng Zhang1, Zhenhao Chen1
1School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.
Background:
Digestive tract cancers are among the most common malignancies worldwide, and early diagnosis greatly improves patient prognosis. For instance, colorectal cancer has a 90% 5-year survival rate at early stages. Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (ESD) is the standard treatment, but traditional flexible endoscopes pose operational and visual challenges.
Methods:
This paper proposes a dual-continuum robotic surgical system based on a cascaded vertebrae design. Kinematic and frictional modelling analyses were conducted to ensure stable operation of the surgical robotic system on a commercial endoscope. In addition, a teleoperation system was developed to enable bimanual ESD procedures.
Results:
Experimental validation confirmed the system's workspace, stiffness, hysteresis optimisation, and teleoperation accuracy. In an ex vivo ESD procedure performed on a porcine stomach, the system successfully resected a lesion with a diameter of 20 mm.
Conclusion:
This continuum robotic system demonstrates strong clinical potential to enhance ESD performance and reduce procedural difficulty.
