Multifunction soft surgical robotic arm

Abstract

The application discloses a multifunctional soft surgical mechanical arm for extending into a human body to process human tissue, and relates to the technical field of medical instruments, comprising multiple groups of bending units, a terminal direction control assembly, a support and a camera, the multiple groups of bending units are connected in series, the multiple groups of bending units are all pneumatic bending units, the multiple groups of bending units can all be independently controlled pneumatically, the support is arranged on the terminal pneumatic bending unit, the support is used for supporting a cutter or a laser head, the terminal direction control assembly controls the movement of the cutter on the support, and the camera is fixedly arranged on the support to be used for taking images in the human body in real time. The multifunctional soft surgical mechanical arm provided by the application has high flexibility and multiple functions.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of medical devices, in particular to a multifunctional soft surgical manipulator. BACKGROUND

[0002] Human-computer interaction is more and more extensive, in addition to the combination in basic manufacturing, agriculture and other aspects, with the development of science and technology, robots are gradually introduced into the medical field. Traditional rigid robots are generally composed of various rigid structure links, and have the advantages of high precision, accurate positioning, high strength and the like. These characteristics are in line with the requirements of traditional surgery. However, with the increasing demand for safety of surgery and robots, traditional rigid robots and traditional surgical methods cannot fully meet people's needs.

[0003] Minimally invasive surgery sends surgical instruments into the human body through a single or multiple small openings with the help of special instruments such as endoscopes to perform surgical operations on the damaged area. Traditional rigid robots cannot meet the requirements of flexibility and safety of minimally invasive surgery. Inspired by the biological structures such as octopus tentacles and elephant trunks, scientists have developed the idea of using different soft materials to make soft manipulators, which are driven by wires, air pressure, hydraulic pressure, electricity and the like to work. Unlike traditional rigid robots, soft manipulators have infinite degrees of freedom in theory, can meet the requirements of flexibility of minimally invasive surgery, can enter the surgical area for surgery through their own deformation, have lighter weight, safe human-computer interaction, can adapt to various harsh surgical environments, and have flexible contact characteristics.

[0004] When performing minimally invasive surgery, the more openings, the more likely it is to cause infection of the wound, and it will also increase the difficulty of suturing the wound. For a multifunctional soft surgical manipulator, it is the best solution to realize single-port minimally invasive surgery through its high flexibility, strong functionality and strong adaptability. How to integrate various conditions required for surgery on the soft manipulator is a problem to be solved for the soft manipulator at present. SUMMARY

[0005] The present application aims to provide a multifunctional soft surgical manipulator to solve the problems existing in the prior art, which has high flexibility and multiple functions.

[0006] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present application provides the following solutions:

[0007] The application provides a multifunctional soft surgical mechanical arm for extending into a human body to process human tissues, which is characterized by comprising multiple bending units, a terminal direction control assembly, a support and a camera, the multiple bending units are connected in series, the multiple bending units are all pneumatic bending units, the multiple bending units can be independently controlled pneumatically, the support is arranged on the terminal pneumatic bending unit, the support is used for supporting a cutter or a laser head, the terminal direction control assembly controls the movement of the cutter or the laser head on the support, and the camera is fixedly arranged on the support to take images in the human body in real time.

[0008] Preferably, the bending unit comprises multiple soft bodies with a corrugated structure on one side, the multiple soft bodies are arranged in sequence around a circumference, and the side provided with the corrugated structure faces outward, the soft body is hollow inside and forms an air duct with a corrugated structure on one side, and the bending and straightening of the soft body can be realized by changing the air pressure in the air duct.

[0009] Preferably, the soft body comprises a gas pipeline and multiple fan-shaped units, the multiple fan-shaped units are arranged in sequence on one side of the gas pipeline along the length direction of the gas pipeline and form a corrugated structure, the fan-shaped unit is hollow inside and forms a fan-shaped cavity, each fan-shaped cavity is in communication with the channel in the gas pipeline, and the elastic modulus of the fan-shaped unit is smaller than that of the gas pipeline.

[0010] Preferably, arc-shaped protrusions are arranged on both sides of the fan-shaped unit along the length direction of the gas pipeline, and the cross section of the arc-shaped protrusion is in a semicylindrical shape.

[0011] Preferably, the application further comprises multiple inner bone pieces and multiple outer bone pieces, each inner bone piece is connected with the gas pipeline of each soft body, each outer bone piece is sleeved on the outer side of the bending unit and connected with each fan-shaped unit, one fan-shaped unit corresponds to one inner bone piece and one outer bone piece, and the outer bone piece is provided with a silicone rubber film.

[0012] Preferably, each air duct is connected with a communication pipe and an air pressure adjusting device.

[0013] Preferably, end covers are fixedly arranged on both sides of each bending unit in the length direction, two end covers of adjacent two bending units are connected, and the end cover is provided with a through hole for the communication pipe and the cutter; the application further comprises a connecting rod, the connecting rod is connected with the end cover at the end of the first bending unit, the connecting rod, the end cover, the bending unit and the support are all provided with first through holes in communication, and multiple groups are arranged to realize the lowering of multiple assemblies from the top of the multifunctional soft surgical mechanical arm to the support.

[0014] Preferably, the support member is used to support the cutting tool. Multiple wire control units are provided on the support member. Each wire control unit includes a spring and a wire control plate. One end of the spring is fixedly mounted on the support member, and the other end is fixedly connected to the wire control plate. The wire control plate has a tool-holding hole, allowing the cutting tool to pass through the end cap, the bending unit, and the spring and be engaged in the tool-holding hole. The end-effector direction control assembly includes multiple drive ropes. One end of each drive rope is fixedly connected to the wire control plate, and the other end extends from the first bending unit. Control of the cutting tool on the wire control plate is achieved by pulling and releasing different drive ropes.

[0015] Preferably, it also includes an electromagnetic adsorption device, which is fixedly mounted on the support member and is used to generate electromagnetic fields and fix the cutter in the cutter hole.

[0016] Preferably, it also includes a variable stiffness tube, which can be inserted into multiple sets of bending units. The inlet of the variable stiffness tube extends out of the variable stiffness tube, and the stiffness of the variable stiffness tube is changed by introducing water of different temperatures into the variable stiffness tube.

[0017] The present invention achieves the following technical effects compared to the prior art:

[0018] 1. Suitable for surgeries with low power requirements, it uses pneumatic control to control the deformation and movement of the bending unit. The overall structure is simpler, lighter and safer than other power modes, perfectly meeting the requirements of minimally invasive surgery.

[0019] 2. A multi-bending unit is connected in series, preferably two units. The front bending unit can control the cutting tool to a larger extent, while the rear bending unit can control the cutting tool to a smaller extent. This improves the moving efficiency while ensuring the moving accuracy.

[0020] 3. The cutter is controlled by three drive ropes, which is consistent with the transmission principle of human tendons. It meets the background and requirements of bionic design. The dynamic performance is improved by the reasonable arrangement of the drive ropes. The linear arrangement is flexible and occupies little geometric space, making it very suitable for transmission occasions with limited space and a large number of required degrees of freedom.

[0021] 4. It integrates multiple functions such as blade feeding, blade manipulation, endoscopy, blade return, and variable stiffness, and occupies a small area, making it suitable for single-port minimally invasive surgery. Attached Figure Description

[0022] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm provided in Example 1 (without silicone rubber film, inner bone plate and outer bone plate);

[0024] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A view from another direction;

[0025] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the bending unit structure;

[0026] Figure 4 for Figure 3 Top view without silicone rubber film structure;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the connecting rod structure;

[0028] Figure 6 This is a structural diagram of the support components and the wire control unit;

[0029] Figure 7 for Figure 6 A second view;

[0030] Figure 8 for Figure 6 A view from a third direction;

[0031] Figure 9 for Figure 6 Exploded view;

[0032] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the end cap structure;

[0033] Figure 11 for Figure 10 A view from another direction;

[0034] Figure 12 for Figure 5 A view from another direction;

[0035] Figure 13 This is a schematic diagram of the multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm provided in Embodiment 2;

[0036] Figure 14 and Figure 15 They are respectively Figure 13 Views in the other two directions;

[0037] Figure 16 This is a structural diagram of the laser assembly and the components used to control the operation of the laser head;

[0038] In the diagram: 1-Bending unit; 11-Soft body; 12-Silicone rubber film; 13-External bone plate; 14-Internal bone plate; 2-Wired control unit; 21-Spring; 22-Wired control board; 3-Support component; 4-End cap; 5-Connecting rod; 6-Electrical control assembly; 101-Second through hole; 102-First through hole; 201-Laser head; 202-Endoscope connection cable; 203-Laser head connection cable; Detailed Implementation

[0039] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0040] The purpose of this invention is to provide a multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm to solve the problems existing in the prior art, which has high flexibility and multiple functions.

[0041] To make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0042] Example 1

[0043] This embodiment provides a multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm for inserting into the human body to process human tissue. It is suitable for minimally invasive surgeries with low power requirements, such as... Figures 1-2 As shown, it includes multiple sets of bending units 1, end direction control components, support members 3, and cameras;

[0044] In this configuration, multiple bending units 1 are connected in series. Each bending unit 1 is a pneumatic bending unit 1, and each unit can be independently pneumatically controlled. Preferably, there are two bending units 1, one in front of the other, connected by end caps 4. In one specific embodiment, end caps 4 are fixedly installed on both sides of each bending unit 1 along its length. Adjacent bending units 1 are connected by two end caps 4. The end caps 4 have through holes for the connecting pipe and the cutting tool to pass through. The end caps 4 can be fixed to the bending units 1, and to each other, by using protrusions and grooves for engagement. Figure 10 and Figure 11 As shown.

[0045] Support member 3 is mounted on the pneumatic bending unit 1 at the end. Support member 3 supports the cutting tool. The end-effector direction control component controls the movement of the cutting tool on support member 3. Camera is fixedly mounted on support member 3 for real-time image capture of the human body. Camera is the end-effector of endoscope. Camera and endoscope display device are connected by a long wire. To facilitate use of endoscope, a first through hole 102 is provided in bending unit 1, which runs through the axial direction. Endoscope camera is mounted on support member 3 after passing through the first through hole 102. Wire is located in the first through hole 102. Display device is located outside the human body and is used to display image information. In other embodiments, only one camera can be used to capture images. The images captured by the camera are transmitted wirelessly to the computer in the operating room for display. The surgeon uses the images to control the end of the multifunctional soft surgical robot arm to move to the lesion.

[0046] In order to control the cutting tool, such as Figures 6-9 As shown, multiple wire control units 2 are set on the support member 3, preferably two wire control units 2. The two wire control units 2 can support and control two tools. The wire control unit 2 includes a spring 21 and a wire control plate 22. One end of the spring 21 is fixedly set on the support member 3, and the other end is fixedly connected to the wire control plate 22. The wire control plate 22 is provided with a tool-holding hole. The tool can pass through the end cap 4, the bending unit 1 and the spring 21 and be held in the tool-holding hole. The end direction control component includes multiple drive ropes. One end of the drive rope is fixedly connected to the wire control plate 22, and the other end extends from the first bending unit 1. By pulling and releasing different drive ropes, the tool on the wire control plate 22 can be controlled. One wire control unit 2 is controlled by three drive ropes. This is consistent with the transmission principle of human tendons and meets the background and requirements of bionic design. The dynamic performance is improved by the reasonable arrangement of drive ropes. The linear arrangement is flexible and occupies little geometric space, which is very suitable for transmission occasions with limited space and a large number of required driving degrees of freedom.

[0047] In use, first inflate the airway of the forward-bending unit 1 to create a bend, passing through the non-surgical area to reach the vicinity of the surgical area, and then fix the air pressure. Next, inflate the airway of the backward-bending unit 1 to allow the blade to enter the surgical area, and fix the air pressure. Finally, the surgery is performed using linearly controlled blades under endoscopic imaging.

[0048] The multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm provided by this invention uses pneumatics to control the deformation and movement of the bending unit 1. Compared with other power modes, the overall structure is simpler, lighter, and safer, perfectly meeting the requirements of minimally invasive surgery. Furthermore, it employs a series connection of multiple bending units 1, preferably two. The front bending unit 1 can control the surgical tool to a greater extent, while the rear bending unit 1 can control the surgical tool to a smaller extent, thereby improving movement efficiency while ensuring movement accuracy.

[0049] The bending unit 1 can adopt various pneumatic bending structures in the prior art. The present invention specifically provides an embodiment, such as... Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, in this embodiment, the bending unit 1 includes multiple soft bodies 11 with a corrugated structure on one side. These soft bodies 11 are arranged sequentially around a circumference, with the corrugated side facing outwards. Each soft body 11 is hollow, forming an airway with a corrugated structure on one side. Each airway is connected to a pressure regulating device via a connecting pipe. Changing the air pressure within the airway using the pressure regulating device allows the soft body 11 to bend and straighten. Specifically, the pressure regulating device regulates the air pressure by supplying and drawing air into the airway. The pressure regulating device is a bidirectional air pump, which regulates the air pressure by supplying and drawing air into the airway. In other embodiments, a pressure sensor is also installed within the airway to detect the air pressure. The bending unit 1 forms a bend and stretch / compression by releasing its original folds to facilitate deformation after inflation or inhalation. The soft body 11 includes a gas pipe and multiple sector units. Multiple sector units are arranged sequentially along the length of the gas pipe on one side to form a corrugated structure. Each sector unit is hollow to form a sector-shaped chamber. Each sector-shaped chamber is connected to a channel in the gas pipe. The elastic modulus of the sector unit is smaller than that of the gas pipe. Because the elastic modulus of the sector unit is smaller and that of the gas pipe is larger, the sector unit can form a larger deformation and a displacement difference with the gas pipe, thereby increasing the angle of bending deformation.

[0050] Arc-shaped protrusions are provided on both sides of the sector unit along the length of the gas pipe, and the cross-section of the arc-shaped protrusions is semi-cylindrical. By setting semi-cylindrical protrusions between adjacent sector units, the gap between them is reduced. Since it is made of soft material, it will also expand to a certain extent during inflation. During expansion, the semi-cylindrical structures compress against each other, thereby increasing the angle of bending deformation.

[0051] In some embodiments, to improve the controllability of the multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm, it also includes multiple inner bone plates 14 and multiple outer bone plates 13. Each inner bone plate 14 is connected to the gas pipe of each soft body 11. Each outer bone plate 13 is sleeved on the outside of the bending unit 1 and connected to each fan-shaped unit. One fan-shaped unit corresponds to one inner bone plate 14 and one outer bone plate 13. When the soft body 11 deforms, it will drive the inner bone plate 14 and the outer bone plate 13 to move. The inner bone plate 14 and the outer bone plate 13 have a certain rigidity to constrain the shape of each soft body 11. The outer bone plate 13 is provided with a silicone rubber film 12 as a protective film to prevent the rigid outer bone plate 13 from scratching human tissue. The silicone rubber film 12 can be made by directly casting silicone rubber on the outside of the outer bone plate 13.

[0052] In some embodiments, to improve the stability of the tool position, an electromagnetic adsorption device is also included. The electromagnetic adsorption device is fixedly mounted on the support member 3. The electromagnetic adsorption device is used to generate electromagnetic waves and fix the tool in the chuck hole. The electromagnetic adsorption device is controlled by an external computer. The type of tool is a biopsy forceps. The biopsy forceps include forceps, a control line and a handheld control end. The two ends of the control line are connected to the forceps and the handheld control end respectively. The opening and closing of the forceps is controlled by the handheld control end. The electromagnetic adsorption device can adsorb the part of the control line close to the forceps to control the position of the forceps.

[0053] In some embodiments, such as Figure 5 and Figure 10 As shown, it also includes a connecting rod 5, which is connected to the end cap 4 at the end of the first bending unit 1. The connecting rod 5, end cap 4, bending unit 1, and support member 3 are all provided with interconnected first through holes 102, and multiple sets of these holes are provided to allow multiple components to be lowered from the top of the multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm to the support member 3. The first through hole 102 can accommodate drive ropes, endoscope connection cables, laser head connection cables, and biopsy forceps control cables, etc.

[0054] In some embodiments, in order to enable the robotic arm to have a variable stiffness effect, a variable stiffness tube is also provided. The variable stiffness tube can be inserted into multiple sets of bending units 1. The water inlet of the variable stiffness tube extends out of the variable stiffness tube. The stiffness of the variable stiffness tube is changed by introducing water of different temperatures into the variable stiffness tube. The bending unit 1 is provided with a second through hole 101 that runs through the axis. The variable stiffness tube is inserted into the second through hole 101. The variable stiffness tube is used to introduce water of different temperatures. When cold water is introduced, the stiffness increases and when hot water is introduced, the stiffness decreases, so as to achieve the effect of adjusting the stiffness of the robotic arm. In addition, an independent variable stiffness tube can be provided in each bending unit 1 to perform independent stiffness control on each bending unit 1.

[0055] The bending unit 1 can be printed using 75A and 85A hardness printing filaments via FDM 3D printing technology.

[0056] The outer bone plate 13, inner bone plate 14, end cap 4 and support 3 can be printed using 8200pro photosensitive resin through photopolymerization 3D printing technology.

[0057] Example 2

[0058] This embodiment provides another multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm, such as... Figures 13-16As shown, unlike Embodiment 1, in this embodiment, the support member 3 is used to support the laser head 201. The laser head 201 is used to laser cut the diseased tissue of the human throat. The power is adjustable. Low power illumination is used first, and after aligning with the diseased area, the power is increased for cutting. In this embodiment, the component used to control the movement of the laser head 201 is the electronic control component 6. The electronic control component 6 is made of dielectric elastomer smart material and electrodes. The wires extend through the first through hole 102. By energizing the electrodes, the deformation of the dielectric elastomer is achieved to control the precise turning of the laser head 201, so as to achieve the purpose of adjusting the position of the laser head 201. In order to expand the deformation, a compressed spring 21 is added between the dielectric elastomer component and the support member 3. In this embodiment, the variable stiffness tube is not required. The laser head 201 extends into the support member 3 through the second through hole 101 of the bending unit 1.

[0059] Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this invention. The descriptions of the above embodiments are only for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of this invention. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that, based on the ideas of this invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of this invention.

Claims

1. A multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm for inserting into the human body to process human tissue, characterized in that: The device includes multiple bending units, an end-effector direction control component, a support member, and a camera. The bending units are connected in series, and each unit is a pneumatic bending unit capable of independent pneumatic control. The support member is mounted on the end-effector pneumatic bending unit and supports a cutting tool or laser head. The end-effector direction control component controls the movement of the cutting tool or laser head on the support member. The camera is fixedly mounted on the support member to capture real-time images of the human body. Each bending unit includes multiple flexible bodies with a corrugated structure on one side, arranged in a circular pattern with the corrugated side facing outwards. Each flexible body is hollow, forming an air passage with a corrugated structure on one side. Changing the air pressure within the air passage allows the flexible body to bend and straighten. The flexible body includes a gas pipe and multiple fan-shaped units arranged along the length of the gas pipe. The fan-shaped unit is arranged on one side of the gas pipe and forms a corrugated structure. The fan-shaped unit is hollow and forms a fan-shaped chamber. Each fan-shaped chamber is connected to the channel in the gas pipe. The elastic modulus of the fan-shaped unit is smaller than that of the gas pipe. Arc-shaped protrusions are provided on both sides of the fan-shaped unit along the length of the gas pipe. The cross-section of the arc-shaped protrusions is semi-cylindrical. It also includes multiple inner and outer ribs. Each inner rib is connected to the gas pipe of each soft body. Each outer rib is sleeved on the outside of the bending unit and connected to each fan-shaped unit. One fan-shaped unit corresponds to one inner rib and one outer rib. The outer rib is covered with a silicone rubber film. It also includes a variable stiffness tube. The variable stiffness tube can be inserted into multiple sets of bending units. The water inlet of the variable stiffness tube extends out of the variable stiffness tube. The stiffness of the variable stiffness tube is changed by introducing water of different temperatures into the variable stiffness tube.

2. The multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each of the airways is connected to a connecting pipe and a pressure regulating device.

3. The multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each bending unit has an end cap fixedly installed on both sides along its length. Two adjacent bending units are connected by the two end caps. The end caps are provided with through holes for the connecting pipe and the cutting tool to pass through. It also includes a connecting rod, which is connected to the end cap at the end of the first bending unit. The connecting rod, the end cap, the bending unit, and the support are all provided with a first through hole, and multiple sets are provided to allow multiple components to be lowered from the top of the multifunctional soft surgical robot to the support.

4. The multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm according to claim 3, characterized in that: The support member is used to support the cutting tool. Multiple wire control units are provided on the support member. Each wire control unit includes a spring and a wire control plate. One end of the spring is fixedly mounted on the support member, and the other end is fixedly connected to the wire control plate. The wire control plate is provided with a tool-holding hole. The cutting tool can pass through the end cap, the bending unit, and the spring and be held in the tool-holding hole. The end-point direction control component includes multiple drive ropes. One end of each drive rope is fixedly connected to the wire control plate, and the other end extends from the first bending unit. The cutting tool on the wire control plate is controlled by pulling and releasing different drive ropes.

5. The multifunctional soft surgical robotic arm according to claim 4, characterized in that: It also includes an electromagnetic adsorption device, which is fixedly mounted on the support member and is used to generate electromagnetic fields and fix the cutter in the cutter hole.

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