A stretchable flexible continuum and a continuum surgical robot

Abstract

This invention relates to a stretchable flexible continuum and a continuum surgical robot. The flexible continuum has a cylindrical structure with multiple V-shaped grooves evenly spaced along both generatrix A and generatrix B in the circumferential direction. The V-shaped grooves on generatrix A and generatrix B are staggered along the central axis of the continuum. The depth of each V-shaped groove is greater than half the diameter of the continuum. Two arc-shaped notches are respectively provided on the two groove beams corresponding to the openings of the V-shaped grooves. The two groove beams are connected at the bottom of the V-shaped grooves by an arc-shaped connecting part. Except for the V-shaped grooves connected to the joint head and tail of the continuum, the two groove beams in any V-shaped groove have the same thickness. Through a specific groove design, the flexible continuum of this invention can achieve a large range of flexible bending deformation while also possessing high stretching performance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of medical device technology, specifically to a flexible continuum that can achieve a wide range of bending deformation and has high extensibility, and a continuum surgical robot using the same. Background Technology

[0002] In traditional laryngoscopy and treatment, surgeons typically use a rigid straight laryngoscope or a pre-curved laryngoscope to dilate the patient's pharyngeal passage and provide a view of the lesion. This procedure requires the patient to remain in a supine position with their head tilted back for an extended period, and the strong interaction between the rigid laryngoscope and the patient significantly increases the probability of complications such as tooth fractures, mucosal damage, and bleeding. Furthermore, due to anatomical differences in patients' physiological structures, such as cervical spondylosis or obesity with a short neck, insufficient exposure of laryngeal lesions and the inability to perform surgical procedures are common problems.

[0003] Currently, transoral robotic surgery has emerged as an emerging solution for treating oropharyngeal diseases. Transoral surgical robots allow for more precise surgical procedures, reduce surgeon fatigue during lengthy surgeries, and minimize patient discomfort. However, only a few commercial robotic systems have received FDA approval, and all have certain limitations; for example, Da Vinci... The system (Intuitive Surgical, USA) uses a transoral robot with discrete flexible joints at the end of a rigid surgical arm. While this offers advantages in terms of compliance, it struggles with deep throat surgical procedures. To address this issue, The Medrobotics robotic system (USA) uses an articulated snake-like arm as a tube to carry endoscopes and surgical instruments in a transoral surgical procedure. While this system can perform deep laryngeal surgeries, the rigid articulated snake-like tube still suffers from insufficient compliance and potential tissue damage. In addition, some transoral surgical robotic systems use fixed-length flexible continuum joints to provide a flexible surgical approach. Compared to articulated joints, these continuum robots change shape through elastic deformation of the material, and their inherent compliance greatly reduces the risk of damage to human tissue. However, shorter continuum robots have limited reach, while longer continuum robots have a larger bending radius during the approach, which can easily lead to interference and collisions between the robot and human tissue, thereby increasing patient injury and surgical risks.

[0004] Therefore, based on this, there is an urgent need to develop a continuous surgical robot that has both good flexibility and a certain degree of extensibility, so as to better meet the requirements of transoral and laryngeal surgery procedures and reduce surgical risks. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the problems of insufficient access compliance and limited reach of existing continuum robots for transoral laryngeal surgery, this invention provides a flexible continuum and continuum surgical robot that can not only achieve a wide range of flexible bending deformation, but also have high extensibility.

[0006] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned technical problems is: a stretchable flexible continuous body with a cylindrical structure, wherein the continuous body has multiple V-shaped grooves equally spaced along the side of the generatrix A and the side of the generatrix B in the circumferential direction, and the multiple V-shaped grooves on the side of the generatrix A and the multiple V-shaped grooves on the side of the generatrix B are staggered along the central axis of the continuous body.

[0007] The depth of the V-shaped groove is greater than 1 / 2 of the diameter of the continuum. The two groove beams corresponding to the opening of the V-shaped groove are respectively provided with arc-shaped notches. The two groove beams are connected at the bottom of the V-shaped groove by an arc-shaped connecting part.

[0008] In all of the aforementioned V-shaped grooves, except for the V-shaped grooves connected to the head and tail of the continuum joint, the two groove beams in any V-shaped groove have the same thickness.

[0009] Preferably, the ratio of the depth of the V-shaped groove to the diameter of the continuum is 0.75-0.9:1.

[0010] Preferably, the included angle between the two cutting beams in the V-shaped groove is in the range of 5-10°.

[0011] Preferably, the number of V-shaped grooves opened on the A side of the continuous busbar is the same as the number of V-shaped grooves opened on the B side of the continuous busbar.

[0012] The present invention also provides a continuum surgical robot, comprising the flexible continuum described above, four nickel-titanium alloy rods, and four nickel-titanium alloy rod drive devices; wherein:

[0013] The flexible continuum has four driving channels evenly arranged along the circumferential direction.

[0014] The four nickel-titanium alloy rods are respectively loaded in each drive channel and connected in series with several of the slotting beams;

[0015] The distal end of the nickel-titanium alloy rod is connected to the flexible continuum, and the proximal end is connected to the corresponding nickel-titanium alloy rod driving device. The nickel-titanium alloy rod driving device can drive the corresponding nickel-titanium alloy rod to perform linear motion, thereby driving the flexible continuum to perform two-degree-of-freedom bending motion and extension motion.

[0016] Preferably, the nickel-titanium alloy rod drive device includes a drive motor, a first ball screw, and a screw slider; wherein:

[0017] The drive motor is connected to the first ball screw, and the first ball screw is threadedly fitted with the screw slider;

[0018] The proximal end of the nickel-titanium alloy rod passes through the rigid inner sheath and is fixed on the lead screw slider. A rigid outer sheath is sleeved on the outer periphery of the rigid inner sheath.

[0019] Preferably, a central channel is provided at the central axis of the flexible continuum, and a rigid constraint tube is provided in the central channel. The far end of the rigid constraint tube is fixed to the flexible continuum, and the near end is connected to a linear motion module. The linear motion module can drive the rigid constraint tube to perform linear displacement.

[0020] Preferably, the linear motion module includes a rotary motor, a second ball screw, and a screw nut; wherein:

[0021] The rotary motor is connected to the second ball screw;

[0022] The lead screw nut is threaded onto the second ball screw and fixed to the drive base for assembling four nickel-titanium alloy rod drive devices;

[0023] The near end of the rigid constraint tube is connected to the second ball screw.

[0024] Preferably, the rigid constraint tube is provided with mounting slots and internal channels for introducing surgical instruments.

[0025] Preferably, the continuum surgical robot can be used as a transoral surgical robot in surgical procedures for treating oropharyngeal diseases.

[0026] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following advantages and effects:

[0027] 1. This invention involves creating a plurality of V-shaped grooves at equal intervals on both sides of the generatrix A and B of a cylindrical continuous body, staggered along the central axis of the continuous body. Except for the V-shaped grooves connected to the joint head and tail of the continuous body, the thickness of the two groove beams in any V-shaped groove is the same. When this structured continuous body undergoes flexible deformation, it exhibits, on the one hand, uniform bending effect, high flexibility, and good compliance; on the other hand, at the same bending angle, compared to continuous bodies with other groove forms, it has the smallest deformation and stress per unit length, thus also possessing characteristics of being less prone to breakage and having high load-bearing capacity.

[0028] 2. In the flexible continuum described in this invention, the depth of the V-shaped groove is set to be greater than 1 / 2 of the diameter of the continuum. At the same time, an arc-shaped notch is set on the groove beam located at the groove opening of the V-shaped groove, and the two groove beams at the bottom of the groove are connected by an arc-shaped connecting part. This arrangement can not only further reduce the stress of the groove structure in flexible deformation, but also effectively improve the bending deformation capacity of the deformable section of the continuum, thereby creating a premise for the continuum to obtain a larger bending range and higher extensibility during flexible deformation.

[0029] 3. In the flexible continuum described in this invention, a special slotted structure design results in the continuum primarily composed of several slotted beams and several flexible hinges. Specifically, due to the deep V-shaped slots and the arc-shaped notches and connecting parts on the slotted beams, the stress on the slotted structure during flexible deformation is relatively small. The flexible hinges can more easily generate flexible deformation in two orthogonal planes, while the slotted beams, due to their thick design dimensions, can be considered as not deforming. Furthermore, when the continuum is driven to stretch / shorten under external force, the flexible hinges generate flexible deformation in the main viewing direction. The angle between each slotted beam increases / decreases, enabling the continuous joint to extend / shorten. When the continuous joint is driven to bend in the main view direction, the flexible hinge undergoes flexible deformation in the main view direction, and the angle between each slotted beam increases on one side and decreases by the same angle on the other side, achieving positive bending of the continuous joint. When the continuous joint is driven to bend in the side view direction, the flexible hinge undergoes flexible torsional deformation in the side view direction, and the angle between each slotted beam in the side view direction increases on one side and decreases on the other side, achieving lateral bending of the continuous joint. Therefore, the flexible continuous body described in this invention has both extension and bending capabilities in two directions.

[0030] 4. In the continuous surgical robot of the present invention, the flexible continuous body is driven by four nickel-titanium alloy rods to achieve telescopic deformation and two-degree-of-freedom bending deformation. One end of the nickel-titanium alloy rod is fixed to the distal end of the flexible continuous body, and the other end passes through a rigid inner sheath and is connected to the nickel-titanium alloy rod driving device. At the same time, a rigid outer sheath connected to the driving device is also fitted around the outer periphery of the rigid inner sheath. This double sheath design ensures that the nickel-titanium alloy rod is constrained throughout the feeding drive process, thereby effectively avoiding the situation where the nickel-titanium alloy rod buckles under a high length-to-diameter ratio, leading to drive failure.

[0031] 5. In the continuous surgical robot of the present invention, the flexible continuous body has a central channel in the direction of the central axis, and a rigid constraint tube connected in series with several cutting beams is provided in the central channel. The rigid constraint tube can generate linear displacement under the drive of the linear motion module, thereby effectively constraining the bending length of the flexible continuous body and adjusting the bending shape of the flexible joint to adapt to the physiological structural differences of the pharynx of different patients when it is used as a transoral surgical robot.

[0032] 6. The continuous surgical robot provided by this invention, through a specific groove design on the continuous body, can not only achieve a large range of flexible bending deformation, but also has high extensibility, and can perform a large range of extensibility movement of 65mm-147mm; in practical applications, it can complete a collision-free flexible approach to reach the deep glottis of the larynx through the mouth, which can minimize surgical risks and reduce harm to patients. Attached Figure Description

[0033] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art 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.

[0034] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the stretchable flexible continuum described in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0035] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A magnified view of a portion of point A in the middle.

[0036] Figure 3 This is a front view of the flexible continuum described in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the flexible continuum described in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] Figure 5 This is a top view schematic diagram of the flexible continuum described in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the flexible continuum described in the embodiment of the present invention, showing the state of flexible bending in the front view direction and the side view direction.

[0040] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the elongated and shortened states of the flexible continuum described in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the continuum surgical robot described in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0042] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the connection and assembly of the flexible continuum and the nickel-titanium alloy rod in the continuum surgical robot described in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0043] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the overall drive module structure in the continuum surgical robot described in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0044] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the nickel-titanium alloy rod drive device in the continuum surgical robot described in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] Figure 12 A schematic diagram of the linear motion module structure in the continuous surgical robot described in this embodiment of the invention.

[0046] Labeling Explanation: 1. Flexible Continuum; 11. V-groove; 12. Grooved Beam; 13. Flexible Hinge; 14. Joint Tail; 15. Joint Head; 16. Arc-shaped Notch; 17. Drive Channel; 18. Central Channel; 19. Arc-shaped Connector; 20. Surgical Instrument Channel; 2. Nickel-Titanium Alloy Rod Drive Device; 21. Drive Motor; 22. Drive Base Plate; 23. Support Rib Plate; 24. First Ball Screw; 25. Screw Slider; 26. Optical Axis Guide Rail; 27. Inner Sheath Fastening Screw 28. Nickel-titanium alloy rod fastening screw; 3. Linear motion module; 31. Rotary motor; 311. Motor mounting plate; 312. Motor coupling; 32. Second ball screw; 321. Ball bearing; 322. Coupling; 33. Screw nut; 34. Linear guide rail; 4. Continuous connection base; 5. Rigid outer tube; 6. Nickel-titanium alloy rod; 7. Rigid constraint tube; 71. Mounting slot; 8. Rigid inner sheath; 81. Inner sheath positioning block; 9. Rigid outer sheath; 10. Drive base. Detailed Implementation

[0047] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the embodiments. The following embodiments are explanations of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0048] Example 1: As Figures 1 to 7 As shown, a stretchable flexible continuum has an overall cylindrical structure.

[0049] like Figure 1 , 3 As shown in Figure 4, the flexible continuous body 1 with a cylindrical structure has multiple V-shaped grooves 11 equally spaced along the side of the generatrix A and the side of the generatrix B in the circumferential direction, and the multiple V-shaped grooves 11 on the side of the generatrix A and the multiple V-shaped grooves 11 on the side of the generatrix B are staggered along the central axis of the continuous body.

[0050] like Figure 2 As shown, the depth of the V-shaped groove 11 is greater than 1 / 2 of the diameter of the continuum. The two groove beams 12 corresponding to the opening of the V-shaped groove 11 are respectively provided with arc-shaped notches 16. The two groove beams 12 are connected at the bottom of the V-shaped groove 11 by an arc-shaped connecting part 19.

[0051] like Figure 1As shown, among the plurality of V-shaped grooves 11, except for the V-shaped grooves connected to the head 15 and tail 14 of the continuum joint, the thickness of the two groove beams 12 in any V-shaped groove 11 is the same.

[0052] like Figure 4 As shown, in the flexible continuum of the present invention, busbar A and busbar B are symmetrical about the central axis; the V-shaped groove is defined as a groove structure with a groove opening shape roughly V-shaped, and the groove width gradually narrows from the opening to the bottom of the groove; the groove depth of the V-shaped groove is defined as the distance between the groove opening and the bottom of the groove.

[0053] The flexible continuum described in this invention has the following characteristics:

[0054] (1) As Figure 4 As shown, multiple V-shaped grooves on the A side of the busbar and multiple V-shaped grooves on the B side of the busbar are staggered along the central axis of the continuum. Among the V-shaped grooves, except for the V-shaped grooves connected to the joint head 15 and the joint tail 14 of the continuum, the thickness of the two groove beams 12 in any V-shaped groove is the same. The continuum designed by this grooving method has the characteristics of uniform bending effect, high flexibility and good compliance when undergoing flexible deformation. On the other hand, under the same bending angle, the continuum with this special grooving design has the least stress per unit length and is not easy to break compared with the continuum with other grooving forms, and has a relatively high load-bearing capacity.

[0055] (2) Through a special groove structure design, the continuum of the present invention is mainly composed of several grooved beams 12 and several flexible hinges 13; wherein: due to the deep groove depth of the V-shaped groove 11 and the setting of the arc-shaped notch 16 at the groove opening and the arc-shaped connecting part 19 at the bottom of the groove, the stress of the groove structure is small during flexible deformation. At the same time, the flexible hinges 13 can more easily generate flexible deformation in two orthogonal planes, while the grooved beams 12, due to their thick design dimensions, can be regarded as not deforming, thereby obtaining a large range of flexible bending deformation and high extensibility; specifically:

[0056] like Figure 7 As shown, when the flexible continuum 1 is driven to stretch / shorten under the action of external force, the flexible hinge 13 generates flexible deformation in the main view direction, and the included angle between each slot beam 12 increases or decreases at the same time, thereby realizing the stretching or shortening of the joint of the continuum.

[0057] In addition, such as Figure 6 As shown in (b), when the continuum joint is driven to bend in the main viewing direction, the flexible hinge 13 undergoes flexible deformation in the main viewing direction, and the included angle between each slotted beam 12 increases on one side and decreases by the same angle on the other side, achieving positive bending of the continuum joint; as Figure 6As shown in (a), when the continuum joint is driven to bend in the side view direction, the flexible hinge 13 undergoes flexible torsional deformation in the side view direction, and the included angle of each slotted beam 12 increases on one side and decreases on the other side in the side view direction, thereby realizing the lateral bending of the continuum joint; therefore, the flexible continuum of the present invention simultaneously possesses the following characteristics: Figure 7 The stretchability shown and as Figure 6 The bending motion capability in two directions is shown.

[0058] Furthermore, in the flexible continuum described in Embodiment 1 of the present invention:

[0059] (a) The number of V-shaped grooves opened on the A side of the continuous busbar is the same as the number of V-shaped grooves opened on the B side of the continuous busbar.

[0060] (b) The depth of the V-groove 11 mainly affects the ease of bending deformation of the continuous flexible joint; where: the smaller the groove depth, the worse the bending compliance; the larger the groove depth, the easier it is to undergo flexible deformation, but when the groove depth is set too large, it will also lead to problems such as easy breakage and reduced load-bearing capacity of the continuous body; based on this, the present invention has obtained through finite element simulation calculation that when the ratio of the groove depth of the V-groove 11 to the diameter of the continuous body is limited to 0.5-0.9:1, preferably 0.75-0.9:1, the best bending compliance can be obtained while ensuring the load-bearing performance of the continuous structure.

[0061] (c) In the V-shaped groove 11, the angle between the two groove beams 12 mainly affects the range of expansion and contraction of the joint of the continuum; where the angle is too small, the range of expansion and contraction will be small, and the angle is too large, the radius of curvature of the continuum itself will be large. Therefore, taking into account various factors, the present invention determines through finite element simulation test that the optimal range of expansion and contraction can be obtained when the angle is in the range of 5-10°.

[0062] Specifically, in this embodiment, the continuum 1 is prepared by 3D printing using nylon polymer material; wherein: the diameter of the cylindrical continuum is set to 14mm and the length is 95mm; 18 V-shaped grooves are respectively opened on the A side and the B side of the busbar, and the 18 sets of grooves are staggered along the central axis of the joint of the continuum; furthermore, when the groove depth of the V-shaped groove 11 after finite element simulation optimization is 13.1mm and the groove angle is 9.9°, the best bending compliance and expansion deformation range can be obtained.

[0063] Example 2: As Figure 8 , 9 As shown in Figures 10 and 11, based on the flexible continuum described in Embodiment 1, this invention provides a continuum surgical robot, comprising a flexible continuum 1, four nickel-titanium alloy rods 6, and four nickel-titanium alloy rod drive devices 2; wherein:

[0064] like Figure 5 As shown, four driving channels 17 are uniformly arranged at 90° intervals along the circumferential direction on the flexible continuum 1;

[0065] like Figure 9 As shown, the four nickel-titanium alloy rods 6 are respectively loaded in each drive channel 17 to achieve series connection with several of the slotting beams 12;

[0066] The distal end of the nickel-titanium alloy rod 6 is fixed to the joint head 15 of the continuum 1, and the proximal end passes through the joint tail 14 and is connected to the corresponding nickel-titanium alloy rod drive device 2.

[0067] The four nickel-titanium alloy rod driving devices 2 can drive the corresponding nickel-titanium alloy rods 6 to perform linear motion, thereby driving the flexible continuum 1 to perform two-degree-of-freedom bending motion and telescopic motion.

[0068] Specifically, such as Figure 10 , 11 As shown, the nickel-titanium alloy rod driving device 2 includes a drive motor 21, a drive base plate 22, a first ball screw 24, and a screw slider 25; wherein:

[0069] The drive motor 21 is connected to the first ball screw 24;

[0070] The drive base plate 22 is provided with two parallel support ribs 23;

[0071] The first ball screw 24 is mounted on two support ribs 23 at both ends via flange bearings.

[0072] The lead screw slider 25 is threaded onto the first ball screw 24;

[0073] The proximal end of the nickel-titanium alloy rod 6 is fixed to the lead screw slider 25 by fastening screw 28;

[0074] When the drive motor 21 starts, the first ball screw 24 rotates, and the screw slider 25, which is threaded and engaged with the first ball screw 24, can drive the nickel-titanium alloy rod 6 to move linearly.

[0075] In the continuous surgical robot described in this embodiment, four nickel-titanium alloy rod drive devices 2 are respectively connected to four nickel-titanium alloy rods 6; when the four nickel-titanium alloy rod drive devices 2 simultaneously drive the four nickel-titanium alloy rods 6 to perform forward or reverse linear displacement, the overall lengthening or shortening of the flexible continuous body can be achieved, thereby changing the bending length and bending shape of the continuous body; when the four nickel-titanium alloy rod drive devices are arranged in pairs (e.g., Figure 10As shown, the top and bottom are one group, and the left and right are another group. In each group, one of the two driving devices is used to drive the nickel-titanium alloy rod to perform forward linear motion, and the other is used to drive the nickel-titanium alloy rod to perform reverse linear motion, thereby achieving the effect of one of the two nickel-titanium alloy rods extending and the other shortening. Therefore, setting two groups of driving devices can realize the bending degrees of freedom of the continuum in two directions.

[0076] Specifically, in the nickel-titanium alloy rod driving device 2 described in this embodiment, in order to ensure that the lead screw slider 25 can smoothly drive the nickel-titanium alloy rod 6 to move linearly, as one implementation method, a linear guide rail parallel to the first ball screw 24 can be set on the driving base plate 22, and the lead screw slider 25 can be slidably mounted on the linear guide rail; or as... Figure 11 As shown, two parallel optical axis guide rails 26 can be installed on two support ribs 23 used for assembling the first ball screw 24, and the screw slider 25 can be slidably installed on the two optical axis guide rails 26, thereby improving the stability of the screw slider 25 in linear motion.

[0077] Furthermore, in the continuous surgical robot described in this embodiment, when a nickel-titanium alloy rod with superelasticity and high flexibility is selected to drive the continuous body to perform extension, contraction, and bending deformation, in order to avoid buckling instability of the nickel-titanium alloy rod due to long-distance push-pull driving, this embodiment fixes the nickel-titanium alloy rod to the lead screw slider 25 in the following manner:

[0078] like Figure 9 As shown, the proximal ends of the four nickel-titanium alloy rods 6 are respectively fitted with rigid inner sheaths 8 (outer diameter 1.6 mm, inner diameter 1.0 mm) in the circumferential direction. One end of the rigid inner sheath 8 is fixed to the joint tail 14 of the continuous body 1, and the other end is fixed to the screw slider 25 by the inner sheath fastening screw 27. The four rigid inner sheaths 8 are circumferentially positioned by the sheath positioning block 81, and the four rigid inner sheaths 8 are provided with rigid outer tubes 5 connected to the joint tail 14 of the continuous body.

[0079] like Figure 8 As shown, the four nickel-titanium alloy rod driving devices 2 are respectively fixed on two sets of parallel driving bases 10. The driving base 10 is provided with a continuous connecting base 4, and the rigid outer tube 5 is assembled on the continuous connecting base 4.

[0080] like Figure 11 As shown, the continuous body connecting base 4 is provided with four rigid outer sheaths 9 (outer diameter 4mm, inner diameter 2mm) that correspond to the rigid inner sheath 8 respectively, and the rigid outer sheaths 9 are sleeved on the rigid inner sheath 8.

[0081] In the above configuration, the distal end of the rigid inner sheath 8 is inserted into the internal channel of the rigid outer sheath 9; simultaneously, the nickel-titanium alloy drive rod 6 passes through the internal channels of the rigid outer sheath 9 and the rigid inner sheath 8 respectively and connects to the lead screw slider 25; when the first ball screw 24 drives the lead screw slider 25 to perform linear feed motion, the part of the nickel-titanium alloy drive rod 6 near the lead screw slider 25 is covered by the rigid inner sheath 8, and the part near the continuous body connecting base 4 is covered by the rigid outer sheath 9. This double sheath design ensures that the nickel-titanium alloy rod is constrained throughout the feed drive process, thereby avoiding buckling instability of the nickel-titanium alloy rod under high length-to-diameter ratio, effectively ensuring the effect of continuous body flexible bending deformation or expansion and contraction deformation.

[0082] Example 3; as Figure 8 , 10 As shown in Figure 12, a continuum surgical robot differs from Embodiment 2 in that a central channel 18 is provided at the central axis of the flexible continuum 1, and a rigid constraint tube 7 is connected inside the central channel 18. The distal end of the rigid constraint tube 7 is fixed to the joint head 15 of the flexible continuum 1, and the proximal end is connected to the linear motion module 3. The linear motion module 3 can drive the rigid constraint tube 7 to perform linear displacement.

[0083] Among them: such as Figure 12 As shown, the specific structural configuration of the linear motion module 3 is as follows:

[0084] The linear motion module 3 includes a rotary motor 31, a motor mounting plate 311, a second ball screw 32, a screw nut 33, and a linear guide rail 34; wherein:

[0085] The rotary motor 31 is mounted on the motor mounting plate 311; one end of the second ball screw 32 is connected to the rotary motor 31 through the motor coupling 312, and the other end is connected to the coupling 322 through the ball bearing 321; the rigid constraint tube 7 is fixed on the coupling 322.

[0086] The lead screw nut 33 is threaded onto the second ball screw 32 and is fixedly connected to the drive base 10.

[0087] Two linear guide rails 34 are provided. The two linear guide rails 34 are parallel to the ball screw 32 respectively. One end of the two linear guide rails 34 is fixed on the drive base 10, and the other end is assembled on the motor mounting plate 311 through bearings.

[0088] When the rotary motor 31 is started, the second ball screw 32 rotates and drives the rotary motor 31 to move linearly along the linear guide rail 34, thereby driving the rigid constraint tube 7 to perform a linear displacement of a predetermined stroke.

[0089] Furthermore, such as Figure 5 ,12 As shown, in the continuous surgical robot of the present invention, the flexible continuous body 1 is further provided with two surgical instrument channels 20, and the rigid constraint tube 7 is provided with internal channels and mounting slots 71 for endoscopes to enter, so that endoscopes and surgical instruments can be carried at the same time for surgical operations.

[0090] The continuum surgical robot described in Embodiments 2 and 3 of this invention can be used as a transoral surgical robot in transoral laryngeal surgeries, and it has the following characteristics compared with existing transoral surgical robots:

[0091] (1) The continuum surgical robot of the present invention is composed of a continuum with several bidirectional asymmetric V-shaped grooves at the distal end, and the continuum is mainly composed of several groove beams and several flexible hinges; wherein: due to the deep groove of the V-shaped groove and the setting of the arc-shaped notch and arc-shaped connection on the groove beam, the stress of the groove structure in flexible deformation can be effectively reduced; compared with the existing transoral surgical robot, better bending compliance and a larger bending deformation range can be obtained;

[0092] (2) The continuous surgical robot of the present invention has a flexible continuous body with a special slot design at its distal end. In addition to being able to perform flexible bending deformation with 2 degrees of freedom, the flexible continuous body can also perform large-range stretching deformation with 1 degree of freedom. This can effectively overcome the problems of limited reach caused by the short length of the distal continuous body of the existing transoral surgical robot, or the large bending radius caused by the long length during the approach, which leads to interference and collision between the robot and human tissue, thereby increasing the patient injury and surgical risk.

[0093] (3) The continuous surgical robot of the present invention has a rigid constraint tube set in the direction of the central axis of the flexible continuous body at the distal end. The rigid constraint tube can generate linear displacement under the drive of the linear motion module, thereby effectively constraining the bending length of the flexible continuous body and adjusting the bending shape of the flexible joint. Compared with the existing transoral surgical robot, it can better adapt to the physiological structural differences of the pharynx of different patients.

[0094] In summary, the continuous surgical robot provided by this invention, through a specific groove design on the continuous elastic tube, can not only achieve a wide range of flexible bending deformation, but also has high extensibility, enabling a wide range of extensibility movement from 65mm to 147mm, and a bending range of ±120°. In practical applications, it can complete a collision-free flexible approach to reach the deep glottis of the larynx through the mouth, which can minimize surgical risks and reduce harm to patients.

[0095] Example 4: To further evaluate the kinematic performance of the stretchable flexible continuum and continuum surgical robot described in this invention, a series of performance experiments were conducted in this example:

[0096] (1) Stretchability of the flexible continuum: The maximum elongation and minimum compression length of the joint of the continuum were measured using a digital vernier caliper with a resolution of 0.01 mm. The stretch ratio and contraction ratio were calculated to be 56.22% and 30.85% respectively relative to the initial length, with the maximum stretch ratio reaching 225.92%. The experimental results show that the stretchable continuum designed in this invention has a large stretch ratio;

[0097] (2) Kinematic performance of the continuum: The kinematic performance of the continuum is generally measured by comparing the actual end position of its bending with the theoretical value of the model based on the constant curvature model and comparing the error between the two, i.e. the positioning error. The smaller the error, the better the constant curvature performance. In this invention, compared with the theoretical value of the kinematic model based on the constant curvature assumption, the maximum value of the positioning error of the distal end of the continuum joint at different lengths is less than 5% of the total length of the continuum flexible joint, and the average value of the positioning error of the distal end is less than 3% of the total length of the continuum flexible joint, indicating that the constant curvature performance is good.

[0098] Furthermore, it should be noted that the shapes and names of the parts and components described in the specific embodiments described in this specification may differ. All equivalent or simple variations made to the structure, features, and principles described in this patent concept are included within the protection scope of this patent. Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains may make various modifications or additions to the described specific embodiments or use similar methods to replace them, as long as they do not depart from the structure of this invention or exceed the scope defined in these claims, they should all fall within the protection scope of this invention.

Claims

1. A continuum surgical robot, comprising: It includes a flexible continuum, four nickel-titanium alloy rods, and four nickel-titanium alloy rod drive devices; wherein: The flexible continuum has four driving channels evenly arranged along the circumferential direction. The four nickel-titanium alloy rods are respectively loaded in each drive channel and connected in series with several slotted beams. Each of the nickel-titanium alloy rods is connected at its distal end to the flexible continuum and at its proximal end to the corresponding nickel-titanium alloy rod driving device. The nickel-titanium alloy rod driving device can drive the corresponding nickel-titanium alloy rod to perform linear motion, thereby driving the flexible continuum to perform two-degree-of-freedom bending motion and extension motion. Wherein: the flexible continuum has a cylindrical structure, and the continuum has multiple V-shaped grooves at equal intervals along the side of the busbar A and the side of the busbar B in the circumferential direction, and the multiple V-shaped grooves on the side of the busbar A and the multiple V-shaped grooves on the side of the busbar B are staggered along the central axis of the continuum. The depth of the V-shaped groove is greater than 1 / 2 of the diameter of the continuum. The two groove beams corresponding to the opening of the V-shaped groove are respectively provided with arc-shaped notches. The two groove beams are connected at the bottom of the V-shaped groove by an arc-shaped connecting part. In all of the aforementioned V-shaped grooves, except for the V-shaped grooves connected to the head and tail of the continuum joint, the two groove beams in any V-shaped groove have the same thickness.

2. The continuum surgical robot of claim 1, wherein, The ratio of the depth of the V-shaped groove to the diameter of the continuum is 0.75-0.9:

1.

3. The continuum surgical robot according to claim 2, characterized in that, The included angle between the two cutting beams in the V-shaped groove ranges from 5 to 10°.

4. The continuum surgical robot according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The number of V-shaped grooves opened on the A side of the continuous busbar is the same as the number of V-shaped grooves opened on the B side of the continuous busbar.

5. The continuum surgical robot according to claim 4, characterized in that, The nickel-titanium alloy rod drive device includes a drive motor, a first ball screw, and a screw slider; wherein: The drive motor is connected to the first ball screw, and the first ball screw is threadedly fitted with the screw slider; The proximal end of the nickel-titanium alloy rod passes through the rigid inner sheath and is fixed on the lead screw slider. A rigid outer sheath is sleeved on the outer periphery of the rigid inner sheath.

6. The continuum surgical robot according to claim 5, characterized in that, A central channel is provided at the central axis of the flexible continuum, and a rigid constraint tube is provided in the central channel. The far end of the rigid constraint tube is fixed to the flexible continuum, and the near end is connected to a linear motion module. The linear motion module can drive the rigid constraint tube to perform linear displacement.

7. The continuum surgical robot according to claim 6, characterized in that, The linear motion module includes a rotary motor, a second ball screw, and a screw nut; wherein: The rotary motor is connected to the second ball screw; The lead screw nut is threaded onto the second ball screw and fixed to the drive base for assembling four nickel-titanium alloy rod drive devices; The near end of the rigid constraint tube is connected to the second ball screw.

8. The continuum surgical robot according to claim 7, characterized in that, The rigid constraint tube is provided with mounting slots and internal channels for introducing surgical instruments.

9. The continuum surgical robot according to claim 8, characterized in that, The continuum surgical robot can be used as a transoral surgical robot in surgical procedures for treating oropharyngeal diseases.

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