Optimizing design parameters for sets of concentric tube robots using sampling-based motion planning

Abstract

Concentric tube robots are tentacle-like medical robots that can bend around anatomical obstacles to access hard-to-reach clinical targets. The component tubes of these robots can be swapped prior to performing a task in order to customize the robot’s behavior and reachable workspace. Optimizing a robot’s design by appropriately selecting tube parameters can improve the robot’s effectiveness on a procedure-and patient-specific basis. In this paper, we present an algorithm that generates sets of concentric tube robot designs that can collectively maximize the reachable percentage of a given goal region in the human body. Our algorithm combines a search in the design space of a concentric tube robot using a global optimization method with a sampling-based motion planner in the robot’s configuration space in order to find sets of designs that enable motions to goal regions while avoiding contact with anatomical obstacles. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our algorithm in a simulated scenario based on lung anatomy.

Toward Transoral Peripheral Lung Access: Combining Continuum Robots and Steerable Needles

“…Another open area of research for our system involves optimizing the design of concentric tube robots based on anatomical constraints. There is a large design space available to concentric tube robots, and work is being done to answer the challenging question of optimal tube design [37,47–49]. While these tasks are left for future work, we are optimistic that our system will perform well due to previously published results, such as needle steering in biological tissue using the same sliding mode controller we used in this work [38] and existing bronchoscopic systems employing guide sheaths to provide access to suspicious nodules [9].…”

Asymptotically Optimal Design of Piecewise Cylindrical Robots using Motion Planning

“…Torres et al integrated a motion planner into concentric tube robot design to ensure the computed design is able to avoid obstacles en route to specific points [31], but offers slow performance. Baykal et al investigated computing minimal sets of concentric tube robot designs to reach multiple targets [1], although no analysis was provided regarding a guarantee on optimality. In this paper, we focus on the broader class of piecewise cylindrical robots.…”

Design of a Compact Actuation and Control System for Flexible Medical Robots

“…The workspace, dexterity, and size of these robots [1], [2] depend on parameters including the lengths, curvatures, diameters, and material properties, which can be adjusted to build a robot with characteristics designed on a patient- and procedure-specific basis. Optimizing the design for a specific patient could lead to improved effectiveness and efficiency of procedures.…”