A remote-operated tracheal intubation robot system

Abstract

The present invention relates to a remote-operated tracheal intubation robot system, comprising: a remote-operation unit, which is used to send control instructions to a host industrial computer through an operating handle; a host industrial computer, which is used to generate robot motion instructions based on the control instructions and information fed back by the tracheal intubation robot unit and send them to the tracheal intubation robot unit; the tracheal intubation robot unit includes a multi-segment, wire-driven continuum robot, which is used to carry an intubation catheter and perform intubation operations based on motion instructions and a preset feed step length; during the intubation process, the continuum robot automatically identifies the position of each segment in the tracheal intubation path, and automatically adjusts the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot based on the motion instructions to complete the intubation operation. The present invention solves the problem that tracheal intubation in the prior art relies on manual operation, requires close contact between doctors and patients, and the intubation process relies on manual experience, which easily leads to inaccurate intubation positions.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of medical devices, and in particular relates to a remote-operated tracheal intubation robot system. Background Art

[0002] Tracheal intubation is a method of inserting a special endotracheal tube into the trachea or bronchus through the oral or nasal cavity and the glottis, which provides the best conditions for airway patency, ventilation and oxygen supply, and airway suction. It is an important measure to rescue patients with respiratory dysfunction. Tracheal intubation is suitable for those who suddenly stop breathing on their own, those who cannot meet the body's ventilation and need mechanical ventilation, etc. It is an important measure used in anesthesia, emergency treatment, critical care and other scenarios. At present, tracheal intubation is mainly done manually by experienced doctors under the guidance of bronchoscopes. During the intubation process, doctors need to be in close contact with patients, so respiratory cross-infection between doctors and patients is very likely to occur. For remote rescue situations, such as rescue scenes in the wild, professional doctors are often not equipped, making it difficult to perform tracheal intubation operations; the current intubation process relies on manual experience, doctors have high workload, which affects the quality of work and easily leads to inaccurate tracheal intubation positions. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of the above analysis, the present invention aims to disclose a remote-operated endotracheal intubation robot system, which solves the problem that endotracheal intubation in the prior art relies on manual operation, requires close contact between doctors and patients, cannot achieve long-distance endotracheal intubation operation, and the intubation process relies on manual experience, which easily leads to inaccurate endotracheal intubation position.

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is mainly achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0005] On the one hand, the present invention discloses a remote-operated tracheal intubation robot system, comprising: a remote-operation unit, a host industrial computer and a tracheal intubation robot unit;

[0006] The remote operation unit includes an operating handle, which is used to send control instructions to the upper industrial computer through the operating handle;

[0007] The upper industrial computer is used to generate a robot motion instruction based on the control instruction and the information fed back by the endotracheal intubation robot unit and send the instruction to the endotracheal intubation robot unit;

[0008] The tracheal intubation robot unit includes a multi-segment, wire-driven continuum robot, which is used to carry an intubation catheter and perform intubation operations based on the motion instructions and a preset feed step size; wherein, during the intubation process, the continuum robot automatically identifies the position of each segment in the tracheal intubation path, and automatically adjusts the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot based on the motion instructions to complete the intubation operation.

[0009] Furthermore, the endotracheal intubation robot unit also includes a base unit and a rigid robotic arm;

[0010] The base unit provides one horizontal degree of freedom for movement, and is used to drive the rigid robotic arm to perform horizontal linear displacement;

[0011] One end of the rigid robotic arm is fixedly connected to the base unit, and the other end is fixedly connected to the continuum robot; the rigid robotic arm is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, and is used to carry the continuum robot to move.

[0012] Furthermore, the continuum robot comprises three segments, each of which is configured as a bendable segment by adopting a staggered slotted structure;

[0013] The continuum robot is set to have three degrees of freedom in the sagittal plane, each degree of freedom corresponds to a segment, and is used to achieve active bending feeding along the tracheal intubation path; one degree of freedom is set in the cross section to adjust the yaw angle of the intubation robot deviating from the sagittal plane.

[0014] Furthermore,

[0015] The endotracheal intubation robot unit also includes a lower computer and a first communication module; the first communication module includes bus communication, Ethernet communication, WIFI communication and cellular network communication; and is used to realize communication transmission at different distances with the upper industrial computer;

[0016] The lower computer comprises a multi-axis motion controller for synchronously controlling each drive motor of the endotracheal intubation robot unit based on the motion instructions received by the first communication module;

[0017] The driving lines corresponding to each segment of the continuum robot are connected to displacement sensors; the displacement sensors are used to detect the displacement of the driving lines corresponding to each segment, and send them to the upper industrial computer through the communication module to calculate the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot.

[0018] Furthermore, the upper industrial computer includes:

[0019] A data processing module, used to process the displacement sensor signal of the continuum robot and generate motion instructions for the drive motors corresponding to the drive lines of each segment of the tracheal intubation robot based on a preset tracheal intubation process;

[0020] The second communication module is configured with a communication mode corresponding to the first communication module, and is used to send the motion instruction to the tracheal intubation robot to implement the tracheal intubation operation.

[0021] Furthermore, the preset endotracheal intubation process includes:

[0022] Setting the intubation direction and the coordinates of the initial point of the tracheal intubation path according to the patient's body position and oral position, and obtaining the tracheal intubation path of the patient and the coordinates and curvatures of multiple positions in the tracheal intubation path;

[0023] The continuum robot is arranged inside the intubation catheter, and a control instruction is sent through the remote operation unit to start the tracheal intubation operation along the position of the initial point and the tracheal intubation path;

[0024] During the intubation process, based on the step length and intubation time, the position of each segment of the continuum robot in the tracheal intubation path is calculated by the data processing module; and based on the displacement of the driving line corresponding to each segment obtained by the displacement sensor, the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot are calculated; based on the coordinates and curvature of the corresponding position in the tracheal intubation path, the motion instructions are generated to adjust the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot to complete the tracheal intubation operation.

[0025] Further, the tracheal intubation path is an S-shaped path, and obtaining the tracheal intubation path of the patient and the coordinates and curvatures of multiple positions in the tracheal intubation path includes:

[0026] According to the medical image of the patient, the endotracheal intubation path is obtained by using a method of arc tangency on an S-shaped path; the arc tangency includes a first arc on the S-shaped path being tangent to the upper posterior wall of the airway, and a second arc on the S-shaped path being tangent to the lower anterior wall of the airway;

[0027] The initial point is used as the origin of the endotracheal tube path coordinate system to obtain the coordinates and curvatures of multiple positions in the endotracheal tube path; wherein the multiple positions are multiple positions in the endotracheal tube path spaced apart by the feeding step length.

[0028] Furthermore, the curvature and terminal position of each segment of the continuum robot are obtained based on the displacement of the driving line corresponding to each segment obtained by the displacement sensor, including:

[0029] Establish the base coordinate system O of the continuum robot p -x p y p z p , and establish a corresponding segment coordinate system O at the end of each segment i -x i y i z i , O j -x j y j zj and O k -x k y k z k ;

[0030] A kinematic model of the corresponding segment is established based on the geometric parameters of each segment of the continuum robot, wherein the kinematic model is used to calculate the curvature of the corresponding segment according to the displacement Δl of the driving line of each segment;

[0031] Based on the displacement of the driving line and the curvature of the bending of each segment, the coordinate system of each segment is established. i -x i y i z i , O j -x j y j z j and O k -x k y k z k With the base coordinate system O p -x p y p z p A homogeneous matrix T of the position and posture change between the continuum and the base coordinate system is calculated based on the homogeneous matrix.

[0032] Furthermore, the kinematic model of each segment of the continuum robot is:

[0033]

[0034] Among them, Δl is the change in the length of the driving line of each curved segment, n is the number of left and right slots of each curved segment, and for each additional set of left and right slots, n increases by 1, Φ1 is the distribution diameter of the driving line, w is the slot width, and d is the distance that the center of the slot root deviates from the central axis.

[0035] Furthermore, the endotracheal intubation robot system also includes a human-machine interface and a camera;

[0036] The camera is arranged at the end of the continuum robot; during the tracheal intubation process, the visual feedback of the tracheal intubation path obtained by the camera is displayed through the human-computer interaction module, and the operator performs auxiliary control of the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot based on the visual feedback.

[0037] The present invention can achieve at least one of the following beneficial effects:

[0038] 1. The endotracheal intubation robot system of the present invention realizes master-slave teleoperation control of intubation robots at different distances by setting up a teleoperation unit and combining different communication modes between the endotracheal intubation robot unit and the multi-axis control unit, thereby expanding the application scope of the endotracheal intubation robot.

[0039] 2. During the tracheal intubation control process, the present invention obtains the position of each segment of the continuum robot in the tracheal intubation path based on the step size and the intubation time; obtains the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot based on the displacement of the driving line corresponding to each segment; and adjusts the terminal posture and curvature of each segment of the continuum robot based on the coordinates and curvature of the corresponding position in the tracheal intubation path, thereby realizing automatic and precise tracheal intubation operation.

[0040] 3. The present invention sets the tracheal intubation path according to the patient's medical image, using a method of arc tangency on an S-shaped path suitable for tracheal intubation; and uses a multi-segment, wire-driven continuum robot to perform tracheal intubation operations, which has stronger flexibility, provides multi-segment bending freedom, can adapt to complex airways, and the continuum robot body can rotate along the main axis to adapt to the position deviation of the patient's non-central lying position; based on the kinematic model proposed by the present invention, and adding visual and other feedback, the control accuracy is improved and the safety of the operation is guaranteed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] The accompanying drawings are only used for the purpose of illustrating specific embodiments and are not to be considered as limiting the present invention. In the entire drawings, the same reference symbols represent the same components;

[0042] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of a remote-controlled endotracheal intubation robot system in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 2 is a structural diagram of a remote control handle in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0044] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a tracheal intubation robot in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of a circular arc tangent path in a tracheal intubation path in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the coordinates of the initial point of the tracheal intubation path and the intubation direction in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the main structure of the continuum robot in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0048] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the arrangement of the driving lines of the continuum robot in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the coordinate system of each segment of the continuum robot in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0050] Fig. 9 The figure is a schematic diagram of the geometric parameter representation of the robot segment and the curvature calculation of the bending in the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein the accompanying drawings constitute a part of this application and are used to illustrate the principles of the present invention together with the embodiments of the present invention.

[0052] The embodiment of the present invention discloses a remote-operated endotracheal intubation robot system, such as Figure 1 As shown, it includes a teleoperation unit, a host industrial computer and an endotracheal intubation robot unit;

[0053] The remote operation unit includes an operating handle, which is used to send control instructions to the upper industrial computer through the operating handle;

[0054] The upper industrial computer is used to generate a robot motion instruction based on the control instruction and the information fed back by the endotracheal intubation robot unit and send the instruction to the endotracheal intubation robot unit;

[0055] The tracheal intubation robot unit includes a multi-segment, wire-driven continuum robot, which is used to carry an intubation catheter and perform intubation operations based on the motion instructions and a preset feed step size; wherein, during the intubation process, the continuum robot automatically identifies the position of each segment in the tracheal intubation path, and automatically adjusts the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot based on the motion instructions to complete the intubation operation.

[0056] Specifically, the remote operation unit serves as the main control end and can use a traditional operating handle or a force feedback operating device to remotely control the tracheal intubation robot, such as adjusting the starting position of the tracheal intubation operation, starting the tracheal intubation operation, assisting in adjusting the curvature and terminal posture of the continuum robot during the tracheal intubation process, and controlling the withdrawal of the robot through the operating handle after the intubation is in place, etc., to complete the tracheal intubation operation.

[0057] In particular, this embodiment uses an improved remote control handle to control the tracheal intubation robot, and sends control instructions through the control keys of the remote control handle to the upper industrial computer, which sends them to the motors of the corresponding drive lines of each segment of the tracheal intubation robot through a wired or wireless communication module to control the output value of the motor, thereby controlling the joint variables of each joint of the tracheal intubation robot and the bending deformation of each segment, so that the tracheal intubation robot moves according to the expected trajectory; the remote control handle is composed of a display screen, a mechanical arm control rocker, a continuum control area, a continuum steering control wheel, a function key selection area, a lock key, etc. Figure 2 As shown. The operator can remotely control the intubation robot through the remote control handle; the power button is used to control the start and stop of the tracheal intubation robot; the display screen is used to display brief information about the interaction between the handle and the operator, such as the working mode, end position, direction, etc. of the tracheal intubation robot; the function key selection area provides function selection, such as calibration, wireless pairing, video recording, video capture, ranging, etc.; the robotic arm control joystick is used to control the front, back, left, and right movement of the end of the robotic arm; the robotic arm up and down control button is used to control the up and down movement of the end of the rigid robotic arm; the continuum steering control wheel is used to control the direction of the continuum robot body entering the tracheal cavity, and can make corresponding adjustments in situations such as the patient lying on his side; the continuum control area component is used to control the positive and negative bends of each segment of the continuum robot body; the lock key is used to fix the posture and deformation of the rigid robotic arm part, so that only the continuum robot part continues to deform for fine adjustment.

[0058] This embodiment achieves fine control of various parts of the tracheal intubation robot unit through the corresponding remote control handle. On the basis of realizing automatic tracheal intubation, the accuracy and safety of tracheal intubation are improved through remote control assistance.

[0059] Further, such as Figure 3 As shown, the endotracheal intubation robot unit also includes a base unit and a rigid robotic arm;

[0060] The base unit provides one horizontal degree of freedom for movement, and is used to drive the rigid robotic arm to perform horizontal linear displacement;

[0061] One end of the rigid robotic arm is fixedly connected to the base unit, and the other end is fixedly connected to the continuum robot; the rigid robotic arm is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, which is used to carry the continuum robot to move. The continuum robot carries the tracheal tube through the human mouth and throat to the trachea, and completes the tracheal intubation operation through the posture control of the rigid robotic arm and the bending deformation of each segment group on the continuum robot.

[0062] A miniature optical camera is installed at the end of the continuum robot to provide real-time visual feedback to the operating doctor. During the tracheal intubation process, the visual feedback of the tracheal intubation path obtained by the camera is displayed through the human-computer interaction module. The operator performs auxiliary control of the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot based on the visual feedback to achieve a more accurate and safe tracheal intubation operation. In addition, the human-computer interaction module is also used to implement user control operations. The human-computer interaction module can display camera video information, robot terminal posture and deformation information of each segment, etc. At the same time, it can autonomously choose to communicate with other external devices to display other physiological signals; and can realize functions such as archiving, equipment calibration, and data export.

[0063] In this embodiment, the base unit provides one horizontal degree of freedom, the rigid robot arm unit provides three rotational degrees of freedom in the sagittal plane and one rotational degree of freedom for controlling the mounting base to rotate around its own central axis; the multi-degree-of-freedom rigid robot arm is more flexible, and with the slide rail and slider on the base unit, the continuum robot can reach any position in the workspace, thereby improving the accuracy of tracheal intubation; the continuum robot provides three segmental bending deformations, such as Figure 6 As shown in the figure, each segment is configured as a bendable segment with an interlaced slotted structure; the continuum robot is configured with 3 degrees of freedom in the sagittal plane, each of which corresponds to a segment, for realizing active bending feeding along the tracheal intubation path; 1 degree of freedom is configured in the cross section for adjusting the yaw angle of the intubation robot from the sagittal plane, so as to achieve the purpose of adapting to the shape of the human airway. Because the rigid robotic arm unit can also rotate around its own central axis, it drives the continuum robot to rotate around its own central axis, thereby adapting to the position deviation of the patient when the patient is not lying flat, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the accuracy of tracheal intubation.

[0064] In particular, since the continuum robot of this embodiment is located inside the tracheal tube and needs to carry the tracheal tube to the designated position of the airway, the outer diameter of the robot is not larger than the inner diameter of the tracheal tube, and the inner diameter of the commonly used adult tracheal tube is 8mm, so the outer diameter of the robot needs to be less than 8mm. At the same time, considering the reserved installation position of the micro camera, visual feedback is provided during the intubation process to ensure the safety of the intubation, and the installation channel of the camera cable needs to be reserved. The cable diameter of the existing available camera module is less than 2mm, so the tracheal intubation robot of this embodiment reserves a hollow channel with a diameter of 3mm; that is, the outer size of the tracheal intubation robot is limited to: the outer diameter of the robot is less than 8mm, and the inner diameter is greater than 3mm.

[0065] For the task of tracheal intubation, a large central channel is required for the camera to pass through and be fixed at the end of the continuum robot, and it must have significant structural stability to maintain a stable shape and drive the synchronous deformation of the tracheal tube. The above two functional characteristics often exist independently in many existing continuum robots, and the structure based on staggered slots can meet the above two requirements at the same time, and the bending characteristics are approximately equal curvature bending, which is convenient for the analysis and calculation of the continuum motion state. Therefore, the staggered and evenly distributed slot structure is selected as the main structural form of the continuum robot, and the drive form is linear drive.

[0066] In this embodiment, the bendable segment connected to the robot arm is defined as the first segment, the segment at the end of the continuum robot is the third segment, and the middle segment is the second stage. The length and slot size of each segment can be adaptively set according to actual needs; preferably, in this embodiment, the length of the first segment can be set to 148.8mm, the length of the second segment can be set to 37.8mm, and the length of the third segment can be set to 38mm; in order to realize that the bending shape of each segment of the continuum robot can be actively adjusted, a drive line must be arranged in each segment of the continuum; Figure 7 As shown, the first segment is arranged with positive and negative driving lines, which respectively control the positive bending of the first segment of the continuum robot and balance the bending moment of the distal segments (second and third segments) of the robot; the second segment is arranged with positive and negative driving lines, the positive driving line controls the bending of the second segment of the continuum robot, and the negative driving line is used to balance the moment generated by the bending of the third segment, and when the second segment is bent in the opposite direction, the negative driving line can also be used to control the bending angle of the second segment of the continuum, and the positive driving line is used to balance the moment generated by the bending of the third segment of the continuum; the third segment of the continuum robot can be deformed in positive and negative directions in two planes perpendicular to each other, and the third segment is arranged with 4 orthogonally distributed driving lines, and the two groups of positive and negative driving lines are antagonistic lines to each other, which are used to control the bending and rebound of the third segment. The driving lines corresponding to each segment of the continuum robot are connected to displacement sensors; the displacement sensors are used to detect the displacement of the driving lines corresponding to each segment, and send them to the upper industrial computer through the communication module, so as to calculate the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot to adjust the direction of the continuum robot, and at the same time enable the camera set at the end to have the freedom of left and right observation within the cross section.

[0067] Furthermore, the tracheal intubation robot unit also includes a lower computer and a first communication module; wherein the first communication module includes bus communication, Ethernet communication, WIFI communication and cellular network communication modes; and is used to receive motion instructions sent by the upper industrial computer to realize communication transmission at different distances with the upper industrial computer; the lower computer includes a multi-axis motion controller and a PLC or a single-chip microcomputer, and is used to synchronously control the driving motors of the tracheal intubation robot unit based on the motion instructions received by the first communication module, thereby realizing closed-loop control and completing the tracheal intubation operation.

[0068] Specifically, the teleoperated robot system of this embodiment can realize short-range tracheal intubation operation by wired means, and can also realize long-range tracheal intubation teleoperation (such as between different hospitals) by wireless means. Among them, bus communication can use CAN bus or EtherCAT bus to realize short-range tracheal intubation teleoperation control within the hospital, in the same room or adjacent rooms; use industrial router combined with Ethernet or WIFI local area network to realize slightly longer-range tracheal intubation teleoperation control within the hospital, in distant rooms (such as in the same building or different buildings); and use cellular network communication to realize long-range tracheal intubation teleoperation control outside the hospital, in ambulances, accident sites or other hospitals. By setting different communication methods, the application scope of the tracheal intubation robot system is improved, which has high practical significance for application scenarios such as emergency rescue.

[0069] Furthermore, the upper industrial computer includes a data processing module and a second communication module; the data processing module includes a multi-axis motion control card, which can realize the calculation and control algorithm of the robot instructions, and is used to process the displacement sensor signal of the continuum robot, and based on the preset tracheal intubation process, generate the motion instructions of the drive motor corresponding to the drive line of each segment of the tracheal intubation robot; the second communication module is provided with a communication method corresponding to the first communication module, which is used to send the motion instructions to the tracheal intubation robot to realize the tracheal intubation operation.

[0070] Specifically, the preset endotracheal intubation process is as follows:

[0071] Setting the intubation direction and the coordinates of the initial point of the tracheal intubation path according to the patient's body position and oral position, and obtaining the tracheal intubation path of the patient and the coordinates and curvatures of multiple positions in the tracheal intubation path;

[0072] The continuum robot is arranged inside the intubation catheter, and a control instruction is sent through the remote operation unit to start the tracheal intubation operation along the position of the initial point and the tracheal intubation path;

[0073] During the intubation process, based on the step length and intubation time, the position of each segment of the continuum robot in the tracheal intubation path is calculated by the upper industrial computer; and based on the displacement of the driving line corresponding to each segment obtained by the displacement sensor, the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot are calculated; based on the coordinates and curvature of the corresponding position in the tracheal intubation path, the motion instructions are generated to adjust the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot to complete the tracheal intubation operation.

[0074] The tracheal intubation path is an S-shaped path, and the step of obtaining the tracheal intubation path of the patient and the coordinates and curvatures of multiple positions in the tracheal intubation path includes:

[0075] According to the medical image of the patient, the endotracheal intubation path is obtained by using a method of arc tangency on an S-shaped path; the arc tangency includes a first arc on the S-shaped path being tangent to the upper posterior wall of the airway, and a second arc on the S-shaped path being tangent to the lower anterior wall of the airway;

[0076] The initial point is used as the origin of the endotracheal tube path coordinate system to obtain the coordinates and curvatures of multiple positions in the endotracheal tube path; wherein the multiple positions are multiple positions in the endotracheal tube path spaced apart by the feeding step length.

[0077] In particular, this embodiment measures the anatomical parameters of the natural cavity of the human body in the cross section in Mimics based on the CT images of the cross section of the open upper airway of multiple groups of clinical patients, studies the geometric and motion space parameters that the tracheal intubation robot must meet when intubating, and determines an S-shaped path suitable for tracheal intubation as the tracheal intubation path; in actual application, based on the medical images of the patients, the tracheal intubation path is obtained by using the method of tangent arc on the S-shaped path; Figure 4 As shown, the arc tangency includes the first arc on the S-shaped path being tangent to the upper posterior wall of the airway, and the second arc on the S-shaped path being tangent to the lower anterior wall of the airway; and the intubation direction and the coordinates of the initial point of the tracheal intubation path are set according to the patient's body position and oral position, such as Figure 5 As shown; the initial point is used as the origin of the tracheal intubation path coordinate system to obtain the coordinates and curvature of multiple positions in the tracheal intubation path; wherein the multiple positions refer to multiple positions in the tracheal intubation path, which are spaced apart by the feed step length of the tracheal intubation robot.

[0078] More specifically, when performing the tracheal intubation operation, the patient lies on his back or side on a table, and the patient's body position and mouth position can be measured by a spatial measurement system (for example, a binocular vision camera), a tracheal intubation path origin coordinate system is established at the mouth, and the path point coordinates are discretized to obtain the coordinates of multiple positions in the tracheal intubation path, and the discrete compensation is the intubation feed step length each time; and based on the coordinates of each position, the curvature of each position is obtained.

[0079] In actual applications, the tracheal intubation robot sends the six-degree-of-freedom position and posture of the robot arm (used to adjust the posture of the robot arm and control the intubation depth), the drive line length of the continuum robot (used to calculate the end posture of the continuum robot, that is, the position and direction of the end of the continuum robot), the drive line tension (used to sense collisions) and the camera image (used to observe the internal environment) to the upper industrial computer through the communication module. The data processing module of the upper industrial computer has a built-in control algorithm, which is used to calculate parameters after obtaining various data, and realizes the solution of forward and inverse kinematics models to control the movement of the robot.

[0080] When performing tracheal intubation, the patient's body position and oral position are measured according to the spatial measurement system, and the initial position of the rigid robotic arm is adjusted to keep the continuum intubation robot in the patient's sagittal plane. The initial point coordinates and intubation direction of the continuum robot's tracheal intubation path are set according to the oral position, and the intubation depth is controlled by controlling the robot's feed direction and displacement.

[0081] It should be noted that the present embodiment sets the continuum robot to enter along an approximately "S"-shaped trajectory on the intubation path, and has the ability to adjust the radial direction of the cavity. Therefore, the degrees of freedom of the main structure of the continuum robot are designed to be 3 degrees of freedom in the sagittal plane, which is used to realize active bending feeding along the "S"-shaped cavity; 1 degree of freedom in the cross section, which is used to correct the yaw angle of the robot body deviating from the sagittal plane. Each bending degree of freedom of the continuum robot corresponds to a bending segment, so the body of the continuum robot has three series-connected bendable segments in the sagittal plane and one bendable segment in the cross section, and the bend segment in the cross section can overlap with a bend segment in the sagittal plane to shorten the length of the continuum robot body structure and improve its flexibility. Therefore, this article designs a series-connected continuum robot with three bendable segments.

[0082] Preferably, this embodiment obtains the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot based on the displacement of the driving line corresponding to each segment by the following method:

[0083] like Figure 8 As shown, the base coordinate system O of the continuum robot is established. p -x p y p z p, and establish the corresponding segment coordinate system O at the end of each segment i -x i y i z i , O j -x j y j z j and O k -x k y k z k ;

[0084] A kinematic model of the corresponding segment is established based on the geometric parameters of each segment of the continuum robot. The kinematic model is used to calculate the curvature of the corresponding segment according to the displacement Δl of the driving line of each segment.

[0085] Based on the displacement of the driving line and the curvature of the bending of each segment, the coordinate system of each segment is established. i -x i y i z i , O j -x j y j z j and O k -x k y k z k With the base coordinate system O p -x p y p z p The homogeneous matrix T of the position and posture change between the two axes is obtained; based on the homogeneous matrix, the position and posture of the end of the continuum robot relative to the base coordinate system is calculated.

[0086] More specifically, in practical applications, the base coordinate system O of the continuum robot is first established. p -x p y p z p , and establish segment coordinate systems at the end of each active bending segment, namely O i -x i y i z i , O j -x j y j z j , O k -x k y k z k According to the change Δl of the driving line length of each segment, the bending angle α of this segment can be calculated, thus obtaining the coordinate system O k -x k y kz k Relative to O j -x j y j z j , O j -x j y j z j Relative to O i -x i y i z i , O i -x i y i z i Relative to O p -x p y p z p The coordinate system origin displacement and posture change (α affects the angle of the z-axis) are calculated, and the homogeneous matrix T of the posture change is calculated. The displacement of the driving line length is obtained according to the host computer, and the bending angles α1, α2, and α3 of the three bending segments are calculated. The homogeneous matrix is ​​combined to calculate the terminal relative to the base coordinate system O p -x p y p z p The posture changes.

[0087] Special, according to Fig. 9 The geometric parameters of each segment are shown, and the kinematic model of each segment of the continuum robot is established as follows:

[0088]

[0089] Among them, Δl is the change in the length of the driving line of each curved segment, n is the number of left and right slots of each curved segment (n increases by 1 for each additional set of left and right slot structures), Φ1 is the distribution diameter of the driving line, w is the slot width, and d is the distance from the center of the slot root to the central axis;

[0090] The homogeneous matrix is ​​represented as:

[0091]

[0092] Among them, α1, α2, α3 are the bending angles of each segment, l1, l2, l3 are the lengths of each segment, after bending, l1, l2, l3 are equivalent to the arc lengths of the corresponding segments, l1 / α1, l2 / α2, l3 / α3 are equivalent to the radii of the corresponding segments after bending, l1 / α1(1-cosα1), l2 / α2(1-cosα2), l3 / α3(1-cosα3) are the x-axis coordinates of the end of each segment, l1 / α1sinα1, l2 / α2sinα2, l3 / α3sinα3 are the z-axis coordinates of the end of each segment.

[0093] When the rigid robotic arm carries the continuum robot and gradually inserts it into the oral cavity from the origin of the path, the length of the continuum robot entering the oral cavity is obtained based on the integral of the intubation feed step length. Based on the length, it is determined whether each active bending segment is in the first arc or the second arc. With each step forward, the driving line length is adjusted to make each segment of the continuum robot on the path bend to the curvature of the path until the specified intubation depth is reached or the doctor determines from the camera image that the intubation position has been reached.

[0094] In particular, the driving line of the tracheal intubation robot of this embodiment is connected to a force sensor; before the tracheal intubation operation, the driving line tension of each segment can be calculated based on the force sensor connected to the driving line of each segment, so that the driving line tension corresponding to the continuum robot at different bending angles can be obtained, and the variation range of the driving line tension when each segment is not in contact with the environment can be obtained, and the safety threshold of the driving line tension can be set based on the variation range; during the tracheal intubation process, when the detected driving line tension exceeds the safety threshold, it is determined that the intubation robot is in excessive contact with the external environment, and an early warning is issued and the robot is shut down.

[0095] In summary, a remote-controlled tracheal intubation robot system of the present invention realizes master-slave remote control of intubation robots at different distances by setting a remote-controlled unit and combining different communication methods between the tracheal intubation robot unit and the multi-axis control unit, thereby expanding the application scope of the tracheal intubation robot. In the process of tracheal intubation control, the position of each segment of the continuum robot in the tracheal intubation path is obtained based on the step size and the intubation time; the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot are obtained based on the displacement of the driving line corresponding to each segment; the terminal posture and curvature of each segment of the continuum robot are adjusted based on the coordinates and curvature of the corresponding position in the tracheal intubation path, thereby realizing automatic and precise tracheal intubation operation; and the present invention sets the tracheal intubation path according to the medical image of the patient, using the method of circular arc tangency on the S-shaped path suitable for tracheal intubation; and uses a multi-segment, wire-driven continuum robot for tracheal intubation operation, which has stronger flexibility, provides multi-segment bending freedom, can adapt to complex airways, and the continuum robot body can rotate along the main axis to adapt to the position deviation of the patient's non-central lying position; based on the kinematic model proposed by the present invention, and adding visual feedback, the control accuracy is improved and the safety of the operation is guaranteed.

[0096] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the process of the method in the above embodiment can be implemented by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program, and the program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium is a disk, an optical disk, a read-only storage memory, or a random access memory, etc.

[0097] The above description is only a preferred specific implementation manner of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by any technician familiar with the technical field within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A remote-operated endotracheal intubation robot system, characterized in that: It includes a teleoperation unit, a host industrial computer and an endotracheal intubation robot unit; The remote operation unit is used to send control instructions to the upper industrial computer; The upper industrial computer is used to generate a robot motion instruction based on the control instruction and the information fed back by the tracheal intubation robot unit and send the instruction to the tracheal intubation robot unit; The tracheal intubation robot unit comprises a multi-segment, wire-driven continuum robot, which is used to carry an intubation catheter and perform intubation operations based on the motion instructions and a preset feed step length; wherein, during the intubation process, the continuum robot automatically identifies the position of each segment in the tracheal intubation path, and automatically adjusts the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot based on the motion instructions to complete the intubation operation; the drive lines corresponding to each segment of the continuum robot are connected to displacement sensors; the displacement sensors are used to detect the displacement of the drive lines corresponding to each segment, and send them to the upper industrial computer through a communication module, which is used to calculate the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot, including: establishing a base coordinate system of the continuum robot; p -x p y p z p , and establish a corresponding segment coordinate system O at the end of each segment i -x i y i z i , O j -x j y j z j and O k -x k y k z k ; A kinematic model of the corresponding segment is established based on the geometric parameters of each segment of the continuum robot, wherein the kinematic model is used to calculate the curvature of the corresponding segment according to the displacement Δl of the driving line of each segment; Based on the displacement of the driving line and the curvature of the bending of each segment, the coordinate system of each segment is established. i -x i y i z i , O j -x j y j z j and O k -x k y k z k With the base coordinate system O p -x p y p z p The homogeneous matrix T of the position change between the two ends of the continuum robot is obtained; based on the homogeneous matrix, the position and posture of the end of the continuum robot relative to the base coordinate system are calculated; the kinematic model of each segment of the continuum robot is: Among them, α is the bending angle of the segment; Δl is the change in the length of the driving line of each bending segment, n is the number of left and right slots of each bending segment, and n increases by 1 for each additional set of left and right slots, Φ1 is the distribution diameter of the driving line, w is the slot width, and d is the distance that the center of the slot root deviates from the central axis.

2. The tele-operated endotracheal intubation robot system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The endotracheal intubation robot unit also includes a base unit and a rigid robotic arm; The base unit provides one horizontal degree of freedom for movement, and is used to drive the rigid robotic arm to perform horizontal linear displacement; One end of the rigid robotic arm is fixedly connected to the base unit, and the other end is fixedly connected to the continuum robot; the rigid robotic arm is a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, and is used to carry the continuum robot to move.

3. The tele-operated endotracheal intubation robot system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The continuum robot comprises three segments, each of which is configured as a bendable segment with a staggered slotted structure; The continuum robot is set to have three degrees of freedom in the sagittal plane, each degree of freedom corresponds to a segment, and is used to achieve active bending feeding along the tracheal intubation path; one degree of freedom is set in the cross section to adjust the yaw angle of the intubation robot deviating from the sagittal plane.

4. The tele-operated endotracheal intubation robot system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The endotracheal intubation robot unit also includes a lower computer and a first communication module; the first communication module includes bus communication, Ethernet communication, WIFI communication and cellular network communication; it is used to receive motion instructions sent by the upper industrial computer and realize communication transmission at different distances with the upper industrial computer; The lower computer includes a multi-axis motion controller, which is used to synchronously control the driving motors of the endotracheal intubation robot unit based on the motion instructions received by the first communication module.

5. The tele-operated endotracheal intubation robot system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The upper industrial computer comprises: A data processing module, used to process the displacement sensor signal of the continuum robot and generate motion instructions for the drive motors corresponding to the drive lines of each segment of the tracheal intubation robot based on a preset tracheal intubation process; The second communication module is configured with a communication mode corresponding to the first communication module, and is used to send the motion instruction to the tracheal intubation robot to implement the tracheal intubation operation.

6. The tele-operated endotracheal intubation robot system according to claim 5, characterized in that: The preset endotracheal intubation process includes: Setting the intubation direction and the coordinates of the initial point of the tracheal intubation path according to the patient's body position and oral position, and obtaining the tracheal intubation path of the patient and the coordinates and curvatures of multiple positions in the tracheal intubation path; The continuum robot is arranged inside the intubation catheter, and a control instruction is sent through the remote operation unit to start the tracheal intubation operation along the position of the initial point and the tracheal intubation path; During the intubation process, based on the step length and intubation time, the position of each segment of the continuum robot in the tracheal intubation path is calculated by the data processing module; and based on the displacement of the driving line corresponding to each segment obtained by the displacement sensor, the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot are calculated; based on the coordinates and curvature of the corresponding position in the tracheal intubation path, the motion instructions are generated to adjust the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot to complete the tracheal intubation operation.

7. The tele-operated endotracheal intubation robot system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The tracheal intubation path is an S-shaped path, and obtaining the tracheal intubation path of the patient and the coordinates and curvatures of multiple positions in the tracheal intubation path includes: According to the medical image of the patient, the endotracheal intubation path is obtained by using a method of arc tangency on an S-shaped path; the arc tangency includes a first arc on the S-shaped path being tangent to the upper posterior wall of the airway, and a second arc on the S-shaped path being tangent to the lower anterior wall of the airway; The initial point is used as the origin of the endotracheal tube path coordinate system to obtain the coordinates and curvatures of multiple positions in the endotracheal tube path; wherein the multiple positions are multiple positions in the endotracheal tube path spaced apart by the feeding step length.

8. The tele-operated endotracheal intubation robot system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The endotracheal intubation robot system also includes a human-machine interface and a camera; The camera is arranged at the end of the continuum robot; during the tracheal intubation process, the visual feedback of the tracheal intubation path obtained by the camera is displayed through the human-computer interaction module, and the operator performs auxiliary control of the curvature and terminal posture of each segment of the continuum robot based on the visual feedback.

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