A Compact Modular Teleoperated Robotic System for Laparoscopic Surgery

Abstract

Compared with traditional open surgery, minimally invasive surgical procedures reduce patient trauma and recovery time, but the dexterity of the surgeon in laparoscopic surgery is reduced owing to the small incisions, long instruments and limited indirect visibility of the operative site inside the patient. Robotic surgical systems, teleoperated by surgeons from a master control console with joystick-type manipulation interfaces, have been commercially developed yet their adoption into standard practice may be limited owing to their size, complexity, cost and time-consuming setup, maintenance and sterilization procedures. The goal of our research is to improve the effectiveness of robot-assisted surgery by developing much smaller, simpler, modular, teleoperated robotic manipulator systems for minimally invasive surgery.

A wrist for needle-sized surgical robots

“…Many small wrists based on traditional mechanical linkages have been devised in the past, including wrists with ball joints [9], [10], universal joints [11], cables and pulleys [12], [13], [14], [15], lead screws [16], [17], serial chains in parallel [18], and flexures [19], [20], [21]. These designs range from 2.4 to 15 mm.…”

Tele-healthcare with humanoid robots: A user study on the evaluation of force feedback effects

“…The Phantom has e.g. been employed for the evaluation of the compact modular robot system for laparoscopic surgery presented in [21] and in a virtual palpation training scenario [22].…”

Compact modular system design for teleoperated laparoendoscopic single site surgery

“…3.1 and is described in [14]. It was developed to improve the effectiveness of robot-assisted surgery by creating a much smaller, simpler, modular, teleoperated robotic manipulator system for standard laparoscopic surgery.…”